Serena Williams, bouncing, squealing and leaping high on Arthur Ashe Stadium, reclaimed the US Open crown she last won six years ago with a hard fought 6-4 7-5 victory over Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic just before midnight on Sunday. And in doing so she regained the world No.1 ranking that she last held all those years ago on August 10, 2003.

Never before has there been such a long gap between stints at No.1.

Jankovic kept coming back and didn’t give up. Serena didn’t lose a set in the tournament and I thought that once she got up in the match, she would run away with it. That didn’t happen. Jankovic wasn’t bothered at all playing such a big final. She kept running and going for her shots, making Serena earn the win. It was a very good, high-quality match.

This was the ninth time since 1975 that a Grand Slam tournament final determined the No.1 ranking, but it was the first time it involved two women who were not in the top spot going into the tournament. 

Reaching the final, Serena became the first American to play for the title since 2002, when she defeated her sister Venus 6-4, 6-3 for her second US Open championship. This was her 10th US Open - and the place where she won her first Grand Slam tournament in 1999 as a 17-year-old.

Going into the final, she had a 46-7 record in New York, which is why she was my favorite to win the tournament.

Serena played within herself. She didn’t over-play shots. She was patient and very smart with the way she did things. Her serve was tough, and she moved and volleyed very well. She really showed that she is a fantastic athlete.

Jankovic, appearing in her fifth US Open, was a semi-finalist in 2006 and a quarter-finalist last year. Her overall record in New York was 18-4 prior to facing Serena. She had never reached a major singles final, but last year she won the Wimbledon mixed doubles with Jamie Murray, Andy’s brother.

Had she won, she would have become the third Serbian to be No.1, joining Ana Ivanovic and Monica Seles, who represented Yugoslavia but was born in Novi Sad, the second largest city in what is now Serbia.

Serena was playing her 12th Grand Slam tournament final, one behind her sister. This was the first time she had advanced to back-to-back finals at majors since the “Serena Slam,” when she won Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US in 2002 and the Australian Open in 2003.

She was so solid that nothing distracted her. On her way to the title, Serena scored an interesting triple, defeating Kateryna Bondarenko (whose sister Alona lost to Venus), Venus herself and Dinara Safina (whose brother is Marat). Even more noteworthy, a Williams had never defeated her sister before the semi-finals and gone on to win the tournament.

Serena first played Jankovic in 2004 at San Diego and she won 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. Since then, they have played five times and were 3-3. This year, Jankovic defeated Serena 6-3, 6-4 in quarter-finals at the 2008 Australian Open. Serena evened their year score with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 win in the final at the Miami Open.

Coming into the US Open, Serena had won three tournament singles titles and Jankovic had picked up one.

Jankovic is only going to get better. She enjoys playing and will get stronger. Having been in a Grand Slam tournament final, she will be even tougher in the future. Looking ahead, she will have to work to make her serve stronger. She will also have to make sure that the stops and starts brought about by injuries don’t continue.

Serena hadn’t won a major since the 2002 Australian Open. This year she made a commitment. She worked hard and became very fit, and she played a lot more because she wasn’t injured. I thought it was fantastic to see her so happy at the end of the match. It was wonderful to see the joy and her jumping up and down like a kid.

I know what it is like to have a goal and to achieve it. She did and it was huge.