Serena Williams Captures Madrid Open Title

Tennis star Serena Williams captured the 41st title of her career by beating out Victoria Azarenka for the Madrid Open championship on May 13 in Madrid, Spain.

Azarenka was the top-ranked player in the tournament, but Williams, 30, still overpowered her, 6-1, 6-3, winning her 13th consecutive match on a clay tennis court.

Azarenka struggled to match the strength and power of Williams, and grew frustrated after failing to return most of Williams serves early in the match. Williams served 14 aces. A flustered Azarenka smashed her racket into the clay after committing three double-faults on serve attempts.

"I want to congratulate Serena for a great week," said Azarenka, who won the Australia Open in January, according to the Associated Press. "She did a great job.”

This marked the first major singles event Williams has won in 2012. The next major singles event is the French Open in Paris, scheduled for May 21-27.

"I can still do better," said Williams, who took a yearlong absence because of illness in 2011, according to the AP. "This is really good. I have been working hard. I had some tough battles and really unfortunate circumstances so I really love this."