Serena setting: Williams back at No. 1

Nope.

It sure had been a while, though.

Displaying the talent and tenacity that allowed her to dominate tennis earlier in the decade, Williams outlasted Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 Sunday night in a thrill-a-minute match chock full of marvelous strokes and momentum swings to win her third U.S. Open championship and ninth Grand Slam title.

And there was this "added bonus," as Williams termed it: She returns to the top of the rankings.

"I think this title meant more to Serena than any title she's ever won," her father and coach, Richard Williams, said.

As the women met at the net when it ended, Williams felt compelled to say to Jankovic, "I'm sorry I got so excited."

No apology necessary.

Four times a single point from heading to a third set, Williams was simply relentless. She took the final four games, and 13 of the last 19 points.

"I felt I had her. I had her, because she was really tired at the end of the second set," Jankovic said. "Who knows what would have happened if I had got into a third set? I probably would have had the upper hand. But who knows?"

Instead, Williams took the title without dropping a set. The closest she came to losing one? In the quarterfinals, when she beat older sister Venus in two tiebreakers.

On this night, Venus was in the guest box, cheering for Kid Sis.

"Her desire is unbelievable," Richard Williams said. "I describe her as being a combination of a pit bull dog, a young Mike Tyson and an alligator."

It was his youngest daughter's first triumph at Flushing Meadows since 2002, and it guaranteed that the American will lead the rankings today for the first time since a 57-week run ended in August 2003 — the longest gap between stints at No. 1 for a woman.

Williams' most recent Grand Slam title came in January 2007, at the Australian Open.

For Jankovic, it was her first Grand Slam final anywhere, and she was having the time of her life. She smiled even after losing points, and she kept a close eye on the overhead video boards, either to watch replays or to check out which celebrities were in the audience.

"They should turn it off, because I keep looking," the Serb said. "You see your big face up there and you can't help but look up."

The fourth-seeded Williams finished with 44 winners, 29 more than Jankovic, and smacked serves at up to 120 mph.

The finish was fantastic.

Williams somehow prolonged the second set after falling behind love-40 while serving and trailing 5-3.

Those three break points were set points for Jankovic, and Williams deleted each one, with a backhand winner, an overhead winner and then by forcing an errant backhand on a 10-stroke point. A 98 mph service winner left a frustrated Jankovic tossing her racket up in the air like a majorette's baton. When she sailed the next return long, Williams was at 5-4.

In today's men's final, Andy Murray will face four-time defending champion Roger Federer.

Murray reached his first Grand Slam final by finishing a stunning, rain-interrupted 6-2, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 victory Sunday over Rafael Nadal, stopping the No. 1-ranked Nadal's 19-match winning streak at major tournaments.

The sixth-seeded Murray won the first two sets against Nadal and was down a break at 3-2 in the third when play was suspended Saturday because of Tropical Storm Hanna. As should surprise no one, the generally indefatigable Nadal made a stand Sunday when they resumed, taking the third set and going ahead 3-1 in the fourth.

"It was almost slipping away," Murray said.

But he took five of the last six games, breaking Nadal twice and ending the Spaniard's bid to make his first final at the U.S. Open.

"I wasn't very fresh," Nadal said.

TODAY On TV

• What: U.S. Open men's final, 2 p.m.

• TV: Channel 13