Serena Williams after defeating Jelena Jankovic in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday. (AP)

Miami: Serena Williams screamed at herself, broke her racket and then finally finished off Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 for her fifth title at the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday (as reported in Sunday’s Late City edition).

Serena survived some shaky moments in the last set and an improbable comeback by Jankovic, who trailed 3-5 in the second set. The American closed out the victory on her eighth championship point with an overhead slam.

“I thought I had like 15 match points. I’m glad to know it wasn’t,” Serenma said. “I got tight. I guess you can classify that as nervous… It’s me just feeling like, ‘I’m almost there. I would hate to lose this match after being up so much’.”

She arrived at Key Biscayne trimmer, thanks to a recent rigorous training regimen, and needed to be in peak condition in the two-and-a-half-hour final. Both players held up well in the heat, and some of their best rallies — one lasting 26 shots — came in the final few games.

But Serena also battled a bad case of butterflies.

“Serena really had trouble closing out the match,” Jankovic said. “She looked so nervous out there. I could never believe that a girl who has won so many Grand Slams, so many tournaments, could be that nervous closing out the match. It felt like it was her first time to win that tournament.”

Instead, Serena won for the second year in a row and matched Steffi Graf’s record of five women’s titles at Key Biscayne. “The Serena and Steffi Open,” said Serena, who lives in nearby Palm Beach Gardens. “I love Steffi Graf. She’s a great champion and was my role model. To even be compared to her is awesome.”

Graf’s husband, Andre Agassi, holds the men’s record with six titles.

Despite Serena’s success at Key Biscayne and elsewhere, she has long been criticised for devoting too much time and energy to such interests as acting and fashion design. But tennis is now the No. 1 priority. “I wasn’t making as much money, so I’ve got to go back to the bread and butter,” she said with a laugh. “I feel like all I want to do is play tennis.”

She’s 14-1 this year, with her only loss to Jankovic in the quarter finals at the Australian Open.

At first it appeared the rematch might not last an hour.

Jankovic, battling a cold, was outplayed for a set and a half and was three points from defeat before she began to find her form.