September 27, 2004 Serena's Birthday Blast is Win of the Week BEIJING, China - Always a favorite to win any tournament she's playing, Serena Williams may have been considered an underdog in the finals of the China Open. Williams was up against Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian teenager whose recent rise on the tennis scene has in the last four weeks included a Grand Slam title at the US open and another title earned after a successful week in Bali. Kuznetsova marched into the Chinese final after winning 14 straight matches and was looking to add her third straight trophy to her mantle. But Williams had other plans, and on her 23rd birthday, she won her first title in her last eight tournaments - earning this week's WTATour.com Win of the Week with her 46 75 64 victory. Things started looking grim for Williams early on in the match after the top seed dropped the opening set, 6-4. And it didn't look any better when Williams was serving at 4-5 in the second set and suddenly saw herself staring at a pair of match points from Kuznetsova. Yet Williams kept her composure, saved both of those points, broke Kuznetsova in the next game and followed by serving out the set. From there, Williams kept her head high and eventually collected the 25th title of her career. "Fortunately I was able to hold my serve at 4-5 in the second set to even it at 5-all," Williams said. "Even though she had a couple of match points, I never gave up. It was encouraging that I could win without playing my best. I have to work on my double faults." The 2 hour, 10 minute finale gave Serena her first title since Miami in early April and ended a long title drought for the former No.1. "I've never won a tournament on my birthday before," Williams said. "Even though I don't celebrate, it was a good present. I just didn't want to give up. I didn't want to lose." -- ---禪心已作沾泥絮，莫向春風舞鷓鴣--- --

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