Rome: Serena ends title drought

Serena Williams has ended a nine-month title drought with a 7-6(5) 6-3 win over Madison Keys in an all-American Internazionali BNL d’Italia final on Sunday.

Williams’ previous title came in Cincinnati in August, a month before her attempt at a calendar-year Grand Slam ended with a semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci at the US Open.

It’s Williams’ fourth title in Rome – after victories in 2002, 2013 and 2014 – and it comes exactly a week before the French Open begins.

It was the first time two American women have met in a final on clay since Serena beat older sister Venus in the 2002 French Open. The last all-American final in Rome was in 1970, when Billie Jean King beat Julie Heldman.

It was the biggest final of Keys’ career; she won the Eastbourne title in 2014 and was a finalist in Charleston last year. Both are Premier-level events, a notch below Rome’s Premier 5 status.