Serena wins her 50th tournament

MADRID - Serena Williams kept the No. 1, and added No. 50.

Williams beat Maria Sharapova, 6-1, 6-4, in the final of the Madrid Open yesterday to retain her No. 1 ranking and collect her 50th career title, while Rafael Nadal eased by Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-2, 6-4, for his fifth title since returning from a knee injury.

The second-ranked Sharapova would have overtaken the top ranking with a win, but Williams stormed out to an early lead as Sharapova struggled with her serve.

Despite Sharapova briefly recovering her poise in the second set, Williams' form never dipped as she eased to the title.

"It feels good," Williams said about winning her 50th title. "I don't know how many more I can win. Who knows if I will ever win another title? I just want to live the dream. Hopefully, I can keep it going."

Williams improved her record against Sharapova to 13-2, with her only two losses coming in 2004.

The 31-year-old Williams, playing in her first red clay final since 2002, dominated Sharapova from the start as the Russian never managed to steady her erratic serve.

"I started the match really slow and against an opponent like her you can't give her that," said Sharapova, who had won her previous seven red-clay finals.

She committed five double faults in her first three service games, dropping the first two as Williams eased to a one-set lead.

Williams closed out the final after Sharapova recorded her eighth and final double fault before hitting the ball long to give up her fifth service game.

Last year, Williams won here on the experimental blue clay surface that was removed after complaints from players that it was too slick. Williams said the move back to red clay meant the tournament was a good warm-up for the French Open starting at the end of the month.

"This court is definitely different," she said. "It plays like Roland Garros and that is a plus. So I think it is great preparation."

Cheered on by the home crowd at the Caja Magica, the fifth-ranked Nadal cruised to his 55th career title and extended his head-to-head record with Wawrinka to 9-0.