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LONDON: Venus Williams outgunned younger sister Serena to claim her
fifth Wimbledon crown in exhilarating fashion here on Saturday.
The defending champion recovered from a
whirlwind start by her younger sister to land her seventh Grand Slam
title courtesy of a 7-5, 6-4 win.
Venus paid tribute to the performance of Serena,
who had looked as if she might blast her big sister off court in the
opening games.
“I can’t believe it is five because when you
are in the final against Serena Williams five seems so far away,”
said the champion.
“It’s unbelievable especially with some of
the injuries I have gone through. I love this place.”
The quality of the meeting dispelled any
suggestion that the two siblings were incapable or unwilling to
produce their best tennis against each other.
But Venus admitted she never found it easy to
take on Serena, who comfortably won their previous Wimbledon finals,
in 2002 and 2003.
“My first job is a big sister and I take that
very seriously,” she said. “It is hard for all of my family,
although I like to think they want me to win.”
Serena, who had won five of her previous six
Grand Slam finals against her sister, admitted things had not gone
as she expected.
“She was a little better today, but it
didn’t work out as planned,” she said.
“But I’m so happy that at least one of us
could win. We were glad to be in the final.”
Later Saturday, the sisters were united in
victory when they clinched their third women’s doubles title with
a 6-2, 6-2 win over America’s Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur of
Australia.
The lackluster nature of some of the sisters’
previous meetings had led some to voice fears that Saturday’s
singles final would be another contest lacking in the intensity both
women bring to bear on other rivals.
On that score, the opening point of the match
was encouraging, Serena ruthlessly taking advantage of a short
second serve with a searing forehand down the line.
Any lingering doubts that this would be as
ferociously contested as any final of recent years were then
completely banished by an exchange in the third game of the match.
Having followed up her break in the opening game
with a service game to love, Serena was looking to take a
stranglehold on the match.
So when the opportunity arose to punish an
under-hit volley, she duly accepted, lashing the ball straight at
her elder sister’s midriff. It must have been pure survival
instincts that enabled Venus to get her racquet on to the ball but
somehow she squeezed it back over the net to win the point.
The defending champion managed to hold her serve
but the momentum remained with Serena, who was denied a 4-1 lead
when a forehand from her sister caught the top of the net and
dropped almost dead on the second break point of the fifth game.
Venus was clinging on and her perseverance paid
off when Serena’s level finally dipped sufficiently for her to
level things with a break for 4-4.
She then got her nose in front, thanks to a
sporting gesture from her sister. With Serena having exclaimed
“no” as she mishit a backhand, both sisters were surprised to
see the ball drop in. The umpire ordered the point replayed but
Serena conceded it and the game.
A tentative edge had appeared in Serena’s game
by this stage and serving at 5-6, she gifted her sister the first
set with a tamely netted backhand.
The first game of the second set saw Venus fired
down a serve at 129 mph—a Wimbledon record.
Yet it appeared Serena might have regained the
initiative when she converted her seventh break point in a 14-minute
third game of the second set.
But Venus hit back immediately to level.
The games then went with serve until, with
Serena serving at 4-5, Venus ran down a drop shot and sent a
backhand down the line to claim two match points.
Serena produced an ace to save the first one but
a long rally on the second ended with her pushing a backhand inches
wide to hand her sister the title.
-- AFP
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