American Serena Williams has won her third consecutive U.S. Open women’s tennis championship.

In a dominating performance Sunday evening in Flushing Meadows, New York, the 32-year-old Williams beat her good friend, 24-year-old Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.

With her victory, Williams ties Americans Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 career Grand Slam tournament wins, fourth on the all-time list.  Six of her championships have come at the U.S. Open, which Williams won in 1999 at age 17 for her first Grand Slam title.

Both Evert and Navratilova came on court during the awards ceremony to give Williams a hug, and they presented her with an 18-carat gold Tiffany bracelet with the number 18 on it, to commemorate the milestone.

Williams also won $4 million in prize money – $3 million for winning Sunday’s championship, plus a $1 million bonus for finishing first in the U.S. Open Series, which are seven domestic hardcourt tournaments leading up to the U.S. Open.

Two surprise players will meet in the U.S. Open men’s final on Monday — 14th-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia and 10th-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan. Nishikori, the first Asian-born player to reach a U.S. Open men’s final, upset world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in Saturday’s semifinals, and Cilic knocked off 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer of Switzerland.

This is the first time the men’s U.S. Open final will feature two players seeded 10th or lower.
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