UPDATE 2-Tennis-Serena Williams repeats as U.S. Open champion

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* Williams wins 17th grand slam singles crown

* Azarenka says better player won

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Serena Williams repeated as U.S. Open women's champion by holding off a battling Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-5 6-7(6) 6-1 in a windblown final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.

Williams bounded in a series of joyous jumping jack leaps after Azarenka's backhand sailed long on the second match point of a thrilling, two-hour 45-minute final.

In winning the title rematch against second-seeded Azarenka, world number one Williams claimed her fifth U.S. Open crown and 17th career grand slam singles title.

The big-hitting American, who turns 32 later this month, became the oldest U.S. Open women's winner since tennis turned professional 45 years ago, eclipsing Australian Margaret Court, who was 31 years and 55 days when she won the title in 1973.

The triumph moved Williams to within one grand slam singles crown of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for a tie for fourth place on the all-time list behind Court (24), Steffi Graf (22) and Helen Wills Moody (19).

It had looked like it was going to be plain sailing for Williams after she won the first set, boosted by a late break in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead and then served out a love game.

Williams, who earlier looked confounded by the gusty wind that affected service tosses and the direction of bounces off groundstrokes and was muttering to herself between points, finally settled into a rhythm in the second set.

She surged to a 4-1 lead after Azarenka double-faulted three times in the fifth and her U.S. Open repeat looked undeniable as she had begun to find the range on her imposing service game that saw her serve broken only twice in six previous matches.

'GREAT MATCH'

But the Belarusian showed her fight and took advantage of a string of Williams errors to break right back for 4-2 and rode that momentum.

Twice Williams served for the match, at 5-4 and again at 6-5, but Azarenka rose up to defeat the American's serve and force a tiebreaker.

Williams raced to a 3-1 lead in the decider, but Azarenka won five of the next six points to seize a 6-4 lead and send the championship match to a third set when Williams belted a backhand long to lose it 8-6.

The third set stayed on serve until the fourth game when another double fault, her seventh of the match, sank Azarenka and handed Williams a 3-1 lead.

With the stadium crowd roaring their support for home-country favorite Williams, the American broke Azarenka two games later for good measure to make it 5-1 and then claimed victory when the Belarusian sent a backhand long on the second match point.

"Victoria, you played unbelievable," said Williams at the trophy ceremony.

"What a great match and what a great person. Vika is such a great opponent, she's such a great fighter. It was never over until match point," added Williams.

The top seed collected the $2.6 million top prize and pocketed an addition $1 million bonus for having won the U.S. Open run-up series of tournaments.

Azarenka said she had been beaten by the better player.

"It is a tough loss. But the best player deserves the win today. I gave it all again this year," said Azarenka, who lost 7-5 in the third set to Williams in last year's final.

"We gave it everything we got."

(Reporting by Larry Fine, Editing by Gene Cherry/Peter Rutherford)

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RPT-UPDATE 2-Tennis-Serena, Djokovic send warning shots to rivals

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* Serena, Djokovic dazzle in lopsided victories

* Li first Chinese to reach U.S. Open semi-finals

* Murray works hard to vanquish Uzbekistan opponent

* Berdych stopped by Wawrinka, Youzhny ends Hewitt run

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - World number ones Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic ruled supreme on Tuesday, sending ominous warnings to their rivals with dazzling, runaway victories over Spanish opponents at the U.S. Open.

Djokovic said he played some of his best tennis on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court in trouncing Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-0 6-0, and Williams could not have done better, handing Carla Suarez Navarro a 6-0 6-0 beating at the National Tennis Center.

Dominant performances are not out of the ordinary for those rankings leaders but fifth-seeded Li Na provided something special by breaking another barrier for Chinese tennis.

The 31-year-old Li became China's first semi-finalist ever at the U.S. Open by beating Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2 on Tuesday at a windy Flushing Meadows.

Li pumped both fists in joy after 24th seed Makarova sailed a backhand long to end the two-hour, 20-minute match at Arthur Ashe Stadium as the crowd showered her with cheers.

"For me, this is the first time to come to the semi-finals, so I'm very proud of myself," said Li, who looked about to claim victory in two sets after winning the first three points of the tiebreaker but was extended to a third set.

Other winners were also tested as defending men's champion Andy Murray of Britain worked hard to get past 65th-ranked Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, 6-7 (5) 6-1 6-4 6-4, and women's second seed Victoria Azarenka overcame Ana Ivanovic 4-6 6-3 6-4 to complete the women's quarter-finals field.

The lone upset by rankings was registered by ninth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who ousted fifth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 3-6 6-1 7-6 (6) 6-2

Wawrinka, who has now won five of his last six matches against Berdych, advanced to a quarters clash against Murray.

LOVE-LOVE

Li will not have too long to revel in her achievement as the win set up a semi-final date with defending champion Williams.

"I played really good," acknowledged four-time U.S. Open winner Williams after her 52-minute rout of Suarez Navarro.

"I'm having a blast this week. For me, I have to stay in that moment of fun, but intensity, but calm. If I can try to do those three things, it works out."

It was only the second love-love win in a U.S. Open women's quarter-final dating back to 1968, and first since Martina Navratilova subjected Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria to the embarrassment in 1989.

The 31-year-old Williams, aiming to become the oldest U.S. Open women's winner since tennis turned professional in 1968, has lost just 13 games in her five matches.

Djokovic said his game was clicking just as planned.

"Today, the second and third set have been some of the best tennis that I've played on Arthur Ashe in my career," said Djokovic, who won the title in 2011 and was a finalist last year and in 2007.

"I was wishing to be more aggressive as the tournament progresses," added the Serb, who won the first 25 points on his serve and 28 of 30 points he contested at the net.

FIGHTING PRIDE

Djokovic moved into the quarters against Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, who ended the magical run of 2001 U.S. Open winner Lleyton Hewitt by escaping a 1-4 hole in the fourth set and a 2-5 stranglehold in the fifth for a 6-3 3-6 6-7(3) 6-4 7-5 win.

Youzhny, the 21st seed, took pride in outbattling renowned fighter Hewitt in the nearly four-hour match.

"I know he's a great player and he's great fighting player, who is fighting for every point, every match. For me, this way that I beat him today, it's really important," he said.

The 32-year-old unseeded Hewitt, who had upset sixth-seeded former champion Juan Martin del Potro in the second round, gave credit to the Russian.

"In the end, he played the big games when he needed to," said the Australian.

Earlier, women's second seed Victoria Azarenka overcame Ana Ivanovic, the 13th seed, 4-6 6-3 6-4 to complete the women's quarter-finals field after their contest was postponed from Monday due to nearly five hours of rain delays.

Azarenka, runner-up last year to Serena Williams, will play unseeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the last eight.

LAST BARRIER

The U.S. Open had been the last grand slam where Chinese women had stalled before reaching the final four.

Zheng Jie was the first Chinese player to reach a grand slam semi-final, making the last four at Wimbledon in 2008 and the Australian Open in 2010, but Li has enjoyed even greater success.

Two years ago, Li became the first Chinese to make a grand slam final when she finished runner-up in Australia and a few months later she won the French Open to become China's first grand slam champion.

Li smashed 44 winners against just 15 for 25-year-old Makarova, though the Chinese struggled with eight double faults.

Azarenka and former world number one Ivanovic had even more trouble serving in a match where holding serve was the exception rather than the rule.

The 29-game match had 16 service breaks with Azarenka ending it by breaking Ivanovic for the ninth time.

"It was a big battle. That's what I was expecting from Ana," said Azarenka of Belarus.

Ivanovic tried to see the bright side.

"It's very encouraging, because I know I'm right there," said the Serb. "It's definitely a lot of positives to take from this week and this match. But it still doesn't change. It's disappointing and it hurts." (Reporting by Larry Fine; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes/Patrick Johnston)

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