Serena Williamsafter defeating Simona Halep
Serena Williams of the U.S. poses with the trophy after defeating Simona Halep of Romania in the women's singles final tennis match of the WTA Finals at the Singapore Indoor Stadium October 26, 2014. Reuters

World no. 1 Serena Williams bagged her fifth overall Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals title in Singapore after beating Simona Halep with a 6-3, 6-0 victory. After Williams failed to reach the quarterfinals at the first three Grand Slams earlier this year, many believed that the force of Serena Williams is starting to fade but she proved them wrong as she bounced back to win her third consecutive US Open title and her fifth overall WTA Finals title on Sunday.

Williams' recent victory over Halep was quite remarkable given that the Romanian had cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 victory when they previously met in the pool stages of the tournament. In the opening game, the 18-time Grand Slam champion's forehand into the net gave Halep a break point. Later on, Williams appeared to be more in control of the two with her serving power.

Serena Williams made fewer errors than her previous match and was able to attack Halep's second serve. She kept Halep under pressure by rushing the net regularly. The second set was over in just 25 minutes where the Romanian won just seven points.

"Knowing that she has the ability and the capability to play so well, I knew that I had to step up my game," Williams said in a New York Times report. "I knew that I had to play a lot better, so I obviously was expecting a much better player than I was in the earlier rounds."

Following the Grand Slam season, the American tennis superstar battled various ailments forcing her to withdraw out of her last two tournaments. She claimed that she started training because of her knee injury in Beijing and she didn't know if she'll be able to play well in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Williams revealed at the WTA finals that she received a written apology from the Russian Tennis Federation President, Shamil Tarpischev on Thursday. Prior to the written apology sent to Williams, Tarpischev already made a public apology for his thoughtless name calling of the Williams' sisters and he was also given a one year suspension from WTA activity and was fined the maximum amount of $25,000, by the Chairman and Chief Executive of the WTA, Stacey Allaster.

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