Serena Williams wins eighth trophy easily

World number one Serena Williams steamrolled Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-0 on Sunday to win the WTA title in Toronto and signal her readiness for a US Open title bid.

The 31-year-old American, stung by a fourth-round Wimbledon exit after grabbing her 16th Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros, claimed a third Canadian crown to go with those she won in 2001 and 2011.

Williams needed just 61 minutes to notch her eighth title of 2013 and the 54th of her career.

Cirstea, who had beaten three top-10 players en route to the final in Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova and Li Na as well as former world number one Jelena Jankovic, couldn’t pull off another upset.

It was her third straight-sets loss to Williams in as many meetings.

But Serena said the lopsided win belied the difficulty of winning any title.

“No tournament is ever easy, especially being in the position I am in,” Williams said.

“The tournament starts and they expect you to win. The tournament is like, ‘Well, you’re going to be in the final. After your semi-final I want you to do this, and you have to do this and this….

“Who knows if I’ll even make it to the semi-finals? It’s a lot of pressure and it’s not easy.”

The 31-year-old American, stung by a fourth-round Wimbledon exit after grabbing her 16th Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros, claimed a third Canadian title to go with those she won in 2001 and 2011.

It was a perfect prep for her defence of the US Open title, with Williams hoping she can put her Australian Open and Wimbledon disappointments behind her when the last Grand Slam of the year begins on August 26.

“I’m disappointed I didn’t win Wimbledon or Australia,” said Williams, who is slated for one more hardcourt tuneup at Cincinnati next week. “I’m always insatiable.”

Her formula for attacking Flushing Meadows, the venue of the US Open, is simple: “Stay positive … stay hungry and just stay aggressive”.

Cirstea, who had beaten three top-10 players en route to the final in Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova and Li Na as well as former world number one Jelena Jankovic, couldn’t pull off another upset, although Williams acknowledged the 23-year-old Romanian’s run had caught her attention.

“I know she’s so capable of winning big matches,” Williams said. “And she’s had so many big upsets this week. I didn’t want to be another casualty.”

In the end, however, it was never close as Williams handed Cirstea a third straight-sets defeat in as many meetings. Cirstea has never managed to take more than two games off Williams in a set.

In the men’s event in Montreal, Spain’s Rafael Nadal crushed Milos Raonic of Canada 6-2, 6-2 to capture the ATP Tour’s Montreal Masters title on Sunday.

Nadal now owns eight titles this season and will move back to third in the rankings on Monday behind Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Raonic, completely outgunned in front of a sellout home crowd, will break into the top 10 on the ATP for the first time in his career.

Nadal showed no weakness as he broke Raonic twice in the opening set, broke on a double-fault to start the second and claimed his fourth Masters title of the season after Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome.

The rout gives Nadal a 4-0 career record over the rising Canadian star, with three of the victories coming on hardcourts.