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Serena Williams wins eighth Miami Open

World number one Serena Williams claimed her eighth Miami Open title on Saturday night with a straight-sets demolition of the Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro. The contest was over within an hour as the American maintained her unbeaten start to the 2015 season.

Serena Williams collected her third consecutive Miami Open title and her eighth overall
Serena Williams collected her third consecutive Miami Open title and her eighth overall Reuters
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The top seed thrashed the 12th seed 6-2 6-0 on Saturday night to secure her eighth Miami Open title.

The final was all over in 56 minutes as the 33-year-old won 10 straight games from 2-2 in the opening set.

"It feels really good to have eight under my belt," said Williams, who won her third consecutive crown at Crandon Park.

When Williams held aloft her seventh Miami Open last year she became its oldest winner at 32 years and six months. A year on she's broken her own record. "I'd like to believe the older I get, the better I get," she added.

Suarez Navarro, 26, entered the biggest final of her career having lost her previous four encounters with Williams.

One of those defeats was a bruising 6-0 6-0 annihilation in the last eight at the US Open in 2013.

At least a repeat of that scoreline was offset when Suarez Navarro won her opening two service games. But to the dismay of those spectators hoping for an element of tension, that was as good as it got.

The Spaniard at least has the consolation of breaking into the world's top 10 for the first time next week. She is the third Spanish woman after Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez to reach the upper echelons of the game.

Williams is used to such altitudes. The 66th singles titles after nearly two decades on the tour means she'll continue her 116-week reign as world number one. She also becomes the fourth woman to secure a singles event eight times or more, thereby joining the American legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert and Germany's Steffi Graf in the pantheon.

Williams's win at the Australian Open in Melbourne at the start of the year moved her above Navratilova and Evert to 19 grand slam wins, three behind Graf, who won 22 singles championships. It was fitting that it was Navratilova - one of Williams's idols - who presented her with her eighth Miami Open trophy. Williams will now switch to the clay courts with the aim of collecting her third French Open title in Paris and completing what she's dubbed the "Serena slam" of four consecutive grand slam tournaments.

Her first one took in the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in 2002 and the Australian Open in 2003.

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