When it comes to championship matches, Serena Williams seems to take her game to another level. On Sunday, Williams claimed her 69th WTA Tour title in the Western Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio. The world number one defeated 3rd seeded Simona Halep, 6-3, 7-6(5).

Williams became the first woman to win back to back titles in Cincinnati since the event added the women’s tournament in 2004. It was the 15th consecutive championship match Serena has won, which is just absurd. She started out slow again in the opening minutes of the match as Halep broke Serena’s serve to go up an early break. After Halep went ahead 3-1 in the first set, Williams took her game to another level and won the next five games to win the first set 6-3.

The second set was a little more complicated as both Williams and Halep displayed some great all-court tennis with magnificent rallies. The second set lasted 67 minutes, with Williams prevailing 7-6(5).

The No.3-seeded Halep ended the match with 18 winners and 14 unforced errors, but the No.1-seeded Williams finished with an outstanding +17 winners-to-unforced errors differential, 44 to 27.

By reaching the final, Halep will return to world No.2 on the new WTA Rankings, which determine the U.S. Open seeds – meaning she can’t play Williams until the final.

The Romanian had some words of encouragement as the world No.1 embarks on her historic quest. “I have to say congratulations to the champion, Serena, and I wish you good luck at the U.S. Open. I know that you can win all four – so good luck, and be strong.”

Williams was just as complimentary in her speech. “Thank you Simona for playing such a good match today, and always being such an incredible opponent and incredible sportswoman,” she said. “I’m always honored to play against you and always have such a wonderful match whenever we play. I’ve also got to say, I don’t get support everywhere I play, but I get so much support here in Cincinnati that it makes me want to come back forever and ever, so thank you to all the fans today!”

Serena heads into the U.S. Open with the world watching to see if she can pull off tennis’ most hallowed achievement, winning the four grand slam titles in the same calendar year. I’m rooting for her, and hope she accomplishes the very rare feat.

The U.S. Open begins Monday, August 31st on ESPN.