6:26 pm: Thank you for joining me on the live coverage of the US Open. Serena Williams captures her 18th Grand Slam title in spectacular fashion. She never lost more than three games in any set. The 47th U.S. championship comes to an end with a six-time champion. Kei Nishikori takes on Marin Cilic tomorrow for the men's title and the last one for the forseeable future that will be televised on CBS. Stay tuned to VAVEL for information on tomorrow's final and thank you once again for joining us.
6:25 pm: There are 54 Slams in this picture and Wozniacki ain't won one.
6:25 pm: Wozniacki leaves with $1.45 million in prize money as runner up.
6:21 pm: Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova present an 18-ct gold Tiffany bracelet to Williams to commemorate all of them winning that many (18) Grand Slam titles.
6:20 pm: Williams says that she and Wozniacki "text almost everyday." She is very emotional saying she is happy she won her 18th in front of these fans. Williams gets $3 million for winning the US Open and the $1 million bonus for finishing the year ranked number one from Emirates Airlines.
6:20 pm: And another from Nike tennis.
6:17 pm: Wozniacki calls Williams "an inspiration on and off the court" and says "we can go for drinks later."
6:15 pm: That was a dominant performance by Williams who fell to the ground on the last point. She is four Grand Slams behind Steffi Graf who holds the modern era record with 22 wins.
6:15 pm: Nike tennis had the ad ready.
Game, set, match: This is the third-consecutive win for Williams at the US Open. The match took about one hour and 15 minutes.
6-3, 6-3: Williams wins her 18th Grand Slam title and sixth US Open championship.
3-5, 15-40: Match point for Williams.
3-5, 15-30: 26 shots exchanged and it ends on an error from an exhausted Wozniacki. She has run two or three times as much as Williams today.
3-5, 15-15: Great get by Wozniacki to bury a backhand on the run. That is her first winner not on a serve.
3-5, 0-15: Another error from Wozniacki.
3-5: Williams is now a game away from the championship. If she wins, she will get a $1 million bonus.
4-3, 30-15: Wozniacki has won all three points at the net.
4-3, 30-0: John McEnroe says, "There is not a single thing that Wozniacki has done better."
4-3: Wozniacki's three winners have all been aces.
2-4, 40-0: Service game is coming around for Wozniacki but it might be too late.
2-4: Another ace from Williams puts the pressure back on Wozniacki.
3-2, 15-0: Sixth ace for Williams starts this service game. 116 mph
3-2: Evil look on Williams face on this picture from Charles Krupa of AP Photo.
3-2: Wozniacki holds again with a 96 mph ace.
1-3, 15-15: More mention of McIlroy on the broadcast. Enough.
3-1: Williams service games are pretty fast. She hits the last point on a volley taken out of the air that was drifting out of bounds.
2-1: It feels like Williams isn't even working. She hasn't had too many tricky shots, but has made them look good. She hasn't had to hit lines. She is just using power. Tennis is supposed to be about spurts, but Wozniacki is running non-stop.
2-1: Wozniacki gets the must-hold service game but Williams is still in control as she gets the next serve.
0-2, deuce: Service game is not good today for Wozniacki. Some of these first serves are coming in under 80 mph.
0-2, 40-30: Wozniacki's marathon goal is finally revealed. She wants to run it in under four hours. I'm sure she can do that. I finished my only marathon at four hours, twenty-six minutes.
0-2, 15-15: Power. Athletic. Shot Making. That sums up Williams right now.
0-2: Wozniacki goes down two games quickly.
1-0: Williams gets her fourth break. A 20-shot rally ended with a net cord that fell in Williams' favor. That could be really demoralizing to Wozniacki.
15-30: Wozniacki falls behind in the first service game of the second set after Williams hits an extraordinary no-bounce volley. Wozniacki's only winner was an ace and she is having trouble getting anything around Williams.
Second Set: The winner of the opening set in the last 19 finals has gone on to win the match.
6-3: Williams has the opening set. Wozniacki is covering a ton of ground, but her defensive style was overpowered. The first set took about 40 minutes.
5-3, 40-15: Double set point for Williams.
5-3: Williams now serves after a couple errors give Wozniacki the game.
2-5: deuce: One winner and 10 unforced errors for Wozniacki thus far.
2-5: Wozniacki serves with new balls. She has not held her service game yet.
2-5: Wozniacki will have to serve to stay alive in the first set.
4-2, 40-15: Wozniacki's fitness is being tested. There is so much power coming back at her and Wozniacki has had several off-balance backhands.
4-2: Five straight service breaks gives Williams a chance to take hold of the first set.
2-3, 15-40: Williams now with 13 winners and 13 errors. Two break points.
2-3: Before she serves, lets hope that we have heard the last of Wozniacki and Rory McIlroy in the broadcast.
2-3: Both players are now two for four on break points. Williams double faults twice to put the match back on serve once again. Wozniacki to serve.
3-1, 0-30: Best rally yet as Wozniacki keeps driving Williams deep on the baseline. 22-shot rally.
3-1: Williams breaks again as Wozniacki tries to push one down the line.
1-2, deuce: After Wozniacki's first ace, Williams pushes it to deuce.
1-2: 30-30: I knew the power differential was big, but the difference in look and sound of the two player's shots is remarkable.
1-2, 0-30: Beautiful shot of the pre-match festivities from Melanie Usher.
1-2: Wozniacki will serve. She is wearing the adidas Barricade dress by Stella McCartney.
2-1: Williams gives up a break as Wozniacki converts on her second chance. Back on serve with Wozniacki's second service game of the first set coming.
2-0, 30-0: Williams service game is on and that is bad news for Wozniacki.
2-0: Williams breaks Wozniacki on the first deuce of the match.
Deuce: Simplifying the timeline here on Wozniacki's serve. Follow along to keep up-to-date on the score. Wozniacki has double faulted twice in her first service game.
First Set, 0-1, 15-30: Wozniacki with the first double fault of the day.
First Set, 1-0: Williams saves a break point to take the first game of the match.
First Set, 0-0, 30-40: Wozniacki showing a great return game already as she has the entire tournament.
First Set, 0-0,15-0: Williams serves first and gets the first point at 4:55 pm.
4:53 pm: Williams will be wearing the black and white leopard dress today. It retails for $80 if you would like to copy the look.
4:50 pm: Billie Jean King presides over the coin toss.
4:45 pm: The players are on the court. A win by Williams ties her for fourth in Grand Slam victories with Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert with 18.
4:41 pm: A lot of celebrities are at the match today. Debra Messing, Michael K Williams, Lizzy Caplan and Eva Longoria are among those in attendance.
4:40 pm: Nick Jonas sings "God Bless America" and we are almost ready. That was not the most stirring rendition.
4:35 pm: We await the players and CBS goes with "Love Runs Out" as the prematch montogue music to keep the friends theme going.
4:28 pm: Martina Navratilova proposed to her long-time girlfriend Julia Lemigova before today's match as fans watched on the big screen at Arthur Ashe Stadium. You can tell by the photo that she said yes.
4:25 pm: CBS taking it up to the minute for many of you with extra football coverage. Follow along here as we keep you updated. Thanks for joining me today. It is a matter of history versus redemption today and the storyline about the two players being friends comes to an end with the first serve.
4:15 pm: On another note, there was milestone at the US Open today as the Bryan Brothers won thier 100 career title.
3:40 pm: According to her Twitter feed, Wozniacki left for the facility about three hours ago. She complained early in the tournament about the transportation, but seemed in a fairly good mood today tweeting out her music selection.
3:35 pm: Williams has the most aces during the US Open as is expected by one of the most powerful players in the game. She has recorded the second-fastest serve of the tournament at 122 mph. She has won 80% of her first serve points, but Williams has not been consistent with her first serve.
3:30 pm: The trend of Wozniacki's wins show that she will need about a 65% first service win to be in contention. She won 64% in the match with Sharapova and only double faulted twice. The bigger element will to have a great return game or hope that Williams has a poor service game. Wozniacki won 44% of her receiving points against Sharapova. Her 104 first serve return points are second in the tournament.
3:30 pm: "Serena is a fun girl. She's so nice to hang out with. Always makes me laugh and makes everyone around her laugh," Wozniacki said. "Definitely a very inspiring person to be around."
3:10 pm: Oddsmakers have the worst money on Williams winning two sets to none. They have Williams winning by four games. This does give Wozniacki some credit putting the Las Vegas guess on Williams winning 6-4, 6-4.
3:05 pm: "I always believe in myself when I go out to play. I definitely believe that no matter who stands on the other side of the net I can win the match. The last two times I played Serena we played really two tough three-set matches," Wozniacki told the press after her semifinal win, via USOpen.org. "Hopefully for me that would be third time's the charm."
3:00 pm: The key for Williams is to strike first. She can not allow Wozniacki to set up her defense and use the counter attack to win points. Williams has a large advantage in winners over the tournament.
2:55 pm: Williams has not been as sharp as her results have shown. Her and Venus Williams lost to the eventual doubles champions. Serena Williams has completely missed a couple overheads. It is hard to doubt Williams' confidence but it has not always shone through over the past two weeks.
2:50 pm: Wozniacki has also been training for the New York Marathon. That is quite a feat while continuing her tennis career. When she announced her intentions Wozniacki said she would squeeze in training around the rest of the U.S. hard-court season, a few fall tournaments, and if she can break into the top eight for the year, the WTA Tour Championships in Singapore in late October. Some think the decision was a result of Rory McIlroy walking away from thier wedding. Maybe Wozniacki thought it would be a way to get back on her feet.
2:45 pm: Wozniacki is 19-3 since Wimbledon thanks in part to her great defense. She has lost two sets during the US Open and one of those was to fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova. She did not miss a single return against Sara Errani in the quarterfinals. This will only be Wozniacki's second final of the year. She won the Istanbul Cup after Wimbledon.
2:40 pm: Wozniacki was 1-8 against Williams before this year. She had won one set and a total of 19 games when the two have met. At the beginning of the year it was clear that the two were friends and they have met twice since then. Williams won 6-4 in the third set of the first match. Williams took the other match 7-5 in the third set. “I definitely expect another close match,” Williams said after she won her semifinal. “She knows my game well and knows how to play. She’s so consistent.”
2:30 pm: "We were saying when the tournament started, we're like, ‘Yes! We're in separate sides of the drawing!’, so hopefully we can meet in the finals. It would be great if that were to happen. . . When she's on fire, she's hard to beat. But I have had two tough matches against her the last few weeks. I was really close. Hopefully for me that would be third time's the charm.” - Caroline Wozniacki on the match up.
2:30 pm: The 2014 US Open final pits friends against one another. Number one seed Serena Williams comes in as the favorite against Caroline Wozniacki. Williams has not lost a set in the two weeks of the US Open. She will be going for her 18th Grand Slam. Meanwhile former number one Wozniacki is looking her first. She has to rebound emotionally after beating Peng Shuai when Peng had full-body cramps. It was a crazy way to win a semifinal.