Serena captures second straight Cincinnati title

Serena Williams holds the trophy and poses with ball boys and girls after defeating Simona Halep to win the Western & Southern Open at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. (AFP)

AFP/Cincinnati Serena Williams continued to work her way up the list of WTA tennis legends, winning her 69th career title with a straight-set win over Simona Halep at the WTA Cincinnati tournament. The world number one claimed her second straight Cincinnati trophy and moved past Aussie legend Evonne Goolagong into fifth place in the all-time WTA win list in the Open Era. Martina Navratilova heads the list with 167 singles crowns.  The 33-year-old American rallied past third seed Halep 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) on Sunday for her fifth title of 2015. “I think that playing Simona really tested me, and I felt like I was up for the challenge and up for the test,” Williams said. “I definitely feel there is room for improvement.”  Halep, who handed Williams one of the worst losses of her career at the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore, has surpassed Maria Sharapova as the second ranked player in the world. However, there was injury scare for Halep, who withdrew from this week’s Connecticut Open with a leg injury, with the US Open just eight days away.  “I am very sorry that I have to withdraw from New Haven,” the Romanian said. “I love the tournament and obviously have great memories there having won the title before. “I have had a tough few weeks that have left me with pain in my left leg and unfortunately I can’t force myself to play so close to the US Open.” Williams will be bidding for history at the US Open as she attempts to complete a rare calendar-year Grand Slam in singles. She came back from an early first-set deficit to take charge against Halep. Williams is looking forward to the start of the US Open in eight days. “I prefer to have this pressure than the pressure of not winning,” she said. “Not everyone can handle that pressure, but I’m OK with it. I would rather be in this position than another one.” Williams went down an early break but reclaimed it and then some to win the opening set. The second was much more combative as Halep held her own from the baseline. But Williams turned up the heat in the tiebreaker to finish the job in 99 minutes with 15 aces. Williams now stands 21-4 in Cincinnati. The American has won all five of her 2015 finals - three Grand Slams, a Miami title and now Cincinnati. Federer back as  world number two  Meanwhile, five-times winner Roger Federer will go into next week’s U.S. Open as the world number two after beating Novak Djokovic in straight setsw  in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati at the weekend. The new ATP rankings put the Swiss back in front of Britain’s Andy Murray, the player he defeated in the semi-finals in Cincinnati. It means Federer, 34, who last won the U.S. Open in 2008, cannot meet world number one Djokovic until the final. Richard Gasquet of France went up one place to number 12, replacing American John Isner, but the biggest mover was Feliciano Lopez of Spain, up five places to number 18.