13-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams is not just a good tennis player, she is easily the best of her generation, quite possibly even in the top 10 of all time. However, there is no denying the fact that she has a vile temper which often gets the better of her.

Case in point was the 2009 US Open semi-finals where she verbally abused a lines-judge and was subsequently handed an $82,500 fine and also placed on a 3-year probation where she could face a ban should she commit a similar future offence. In the eyes of most tennis fans and pundits, Serena's outburst in Sunday night's showpiece women's singles final was perhaps not as 'bad', but wreaked of poor sportsmanship and her behaviour towards the Chair Umpire was not just unwarranted, but also completely unacceptable.

Once again Serena Williams' tryst with controversy has come to light, this time in the final of the 2011 US Open in her match against Samantha Stosur. The match was expected to be an easy win for the 13-time Grand Slam champion, as New Yorkers gathered in large numbers to support the American with an air of patriotism around Flushing Meadows as the nation paid homage to the victims of the horrific attack on the World Trade Center on the same day ten years ago. Instead fans witnessed an unworthy verbal assault on Serena's part on the chair umpire Eva Azderaki.

Having gone down a set against Australian Samantha Stosur in the final, Serena was facing a break point in the opening game of the second set. In reply she came up with a stinging forehand close to Stosur's feet and shouted an animated "Come On!", before Stosur could even get her racket to the ball. Citing that as a violation of ethics, the chair umpire found Serena guilty of 'intentional hindrance' and rightly awarded the point to the Aussie. Following that an astonished Serena lost control of her emotions and vented out her anger at the umpire.  "Aren't you the one who screwed me over the last time?", she yelled after conceding the point and the break to her opponent.

For the fourth year in a row, a 15th day has scheduled for the US Open owing to the weather consistently disrupting proceedings over the fortnight. And after two weeks of boundless excitement and some absorbing tennis, the Open is set to arrive at a thrilling climax with the top two seeds in the men's draw contesting in the final. Battle-hardened Spaniard Rafael Nadal is bidding for his 11th Slam and  second US Open title while the relentless Serbian Novak Djokovic is gunning for his first victory at Flushing Meadows. Considering that both players possess immense ability and an inexhaustible source of determination, the last Grand Slam of the year is a sitting duck for a nail-biting finish.

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In his fifth appearance at the semi-final, Novak Djokovic survived an epic encounter against 5 time champion Roger Federer, overcoming a two set deficit to win the match in the decider; quite reminiscent of his victory against the Swiss maestro at the same stage last year. Facing a couple of match points, he showed no nerves in the face of adversity to turn the tables around. The Serb's remarkable courage and resilience have been his major assets in a year where he's dropped just two matches. His performances appear to be near-flawless, with both the backhand and the forehand looking pristine and well oiled. His court coverage is impressive while his shot selection has been immaculate, especially during the tougher points. And his serve has bailed him out of many tight situations, especially in his match against Federer. The World No.1 shall take to the court with a world of confidence, knowing that his opponent is yet to defeat him this season.

Sam Stosur in a spectacular upset captured her first Grand Slam title with a 6-2, 6-3 demolition of home favourite Serena Williams. Stosur became the first Australian to capture the US Open title since Margaret Court back in 1973 in a superb performance. Her victory though was partially overshadowed by yet another Serena controversy at the US Open. On a day of commemoration and quiet remembrance of the 10^th anniversary of the horror attack that razed the twin towers, Serena Williams did not do her country proud showing poor sportsmanship in a tirade against the chair umpire after a decision went against her. She even refused to shake the umpire’s hand at the end of the match in a disappointing display both from a sportsmanship and indeed from a tennis point of view. Serena though partially redeemed herself as she praised Stosur in the post match interview, “She played really, really well & kept hitting winners. She’s a great player”. Stosur was obviously delighted with her triumph and in true Pat Cash style climbed into the player’s box to celebrate her win. She was classy and understated in her interview saying “I dreamed of this day since I was 10 years old”. She praised Serena and thanked all involved in her moment of crowning glory.

Samantha Stosur dominated from the start working to a clear gameplan. With her serve in excellent shape and the kicker rearing like a prancing horse, she brooked little opposition on her delivery. Her forehand was a devastating weapon today and she used her backhand slice smartly too. Her experience at Roland Garros last year seemed to have held her in good stead as the nerves that beset her then were firmly banished on this occasion. Stosur also deserved kudos for mentally staying focussed with all the controversy raging around and the victory was just reward for this wonderful sportswoman.

The 2011 US Open women's final will see 3-time former champion Serena Williams collide with 27-year old Australian veteran Samantha Stosur on Sunday. Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam champion, pummelled world no.1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4 in just an hour and 26 minutes to book a long awaited return to the big stage. Earlier in the evening, Stosur booked her place in her second career Grand Slam final with a hard fought 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win over world no.92 Angelique Kerber of Germany, who had done exceptionally well to make it so far in the draw.

For Caroline Wozniacki to have any chance of 'upsetting' Serena, the American would need to have an off-day on her serve and the Dane would need to do an incredible amount of fetching from the back of the court to make Williams hit one extra ball. The latter happened, the former didn't. Serena landed 62% of her first serves and predictably won almost 80% of the points. Wozniacki worked exceptionally hard from the back of the court, but just didn't have enough weapons in her arsenal to trouble Serena. A total of 5 winners in 2 sets of tennis is hardly becoming of a world no.1. Serena on her part powered home 34 winners and raced to the net on every opportunity to finish off points, winning 17 of 21 points on her advances.

Rafael Nadal overcame the challenge of a feisty Andy Murray with a 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory to make his second consecutive US Open final. The semifinal was characteristically studded with some stunning pillar to post rallies, inspired play from either player and several highlight reel exchanges, but any sustained challenge from Murray was largely quelled by the irrepressible Nadal. Rafa kept a high level right through and rode out any spikes in Murray’s performance to ease through although he did drop a set for the first time in the tournament. Nadal faces nemesis Novak Djokovic in the final on Monday in their 6^th meeting this year. Djokovic earlier registered a heroic come from behind 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 over 5 time champion Roger Federer. For Murray it was once again a case of so near yet so far following the latest heartbreaker to Nadal at this stage of a slam.

Rafael Nadal & Andy Murray have played many exhilarating matches in the past. Matches that have swung both ways, featured excellent corner to corner rallies and contests that have gone down to the wire. With their complementary counter punching styles, their’s is a match up built for watchability. They came in though having to live up to the heroics and drama of the Federer – Djokovic clash. They began in right earnest with their characteristic end to end rallies, with Murray even playing a delectable drop shot, lob, drop shot combination to stir up the crowd. Nadal meanwhile was showing early signs of wanting to dominate using his lethal heavy inside out forehand to open up the points. That willingness coupled with Murray’s innate vulnerability gave the Spaniard a breakpoint in the 3^rd game of the match – early inroads on the Murray serve. Murray held on as did the Spaniard when Murray created a break point of his own in the 6^th game. The 7^th game is widely regarded as the pivotal one in the set and this particular 7^th game certainly lived up to its billing. A precisely measured lob followed by a couple of wild groundstrokes gave Nadal 3 break points which he converted to draw first blood going up a break 4-3. The break seemed to disrupt Murray’s rhythm but he held on to force Nadal to serve out the set at 5-4. Nadal proceeded to do precisely that as he held without ado to take a vital lead.