After all the anguished cries and pummeled groundstrokes between the pair, their 21st meeting — and their fourth in the Wimbledon final — ended with but a muted celebration. Serena Williams, the younger sister by 15 months, steamrolled big sister Venus, 7-6 (3), 6-2 to win her third Wimbledon championship.
She smiled and dropped to the grass, but was not gloating with Venus standing on the other side of the net in resigned defeat. Venus's final backhand sailed plaintively into the net, as Serena captured her 11th major championship title by unleashing unrelenting serves and executing razor-sharp angles.
It was her first Wimbledon championship since 2003, and her smile sparkled in reflection as she raised the Venus Rosewater Dish to a polite crowd that had been hoping for more tennis. Or at least more of the crisp, competitive tennis the two played in the 52-minute first set.
"She had an answer for everything," Venus said with soft disappointment in the trophy presentation. "She played the best tennis today, so congratulations."
Serena had 12 aces in the final, giving her a whopping 72 for the entire fortnight. "I needed to serve that well against Venus," Serena told Mary Carillo on NBC after the match. "It feels good, because I feel like I should have had a title before. Nothing like working hard to get back."
Serena has now won three of the last four majors championships, starting with the United States Open last fall, and continuing with the Australian Open this winter.
But on this grass surface, it was her older sister who had been the most dominant of the pair. Venus had won Wimbledon five times this decade and was vying for her third straight title. Along the way, Venus did not drop a set during these Wimbledon championships. In fact, she had won 34 sets in a row.
It all began to unravel on this Saturday on Centre Court, however, when Venus found herself in a tiebreaker in the first set. Serena stretched even the long-limbed Venus to all angles on the court. After the power and precision she displayed, Serena won the first set with an off-balance topspin lob that left Venus unable to recover..
Serena, 27, pumped her fist from that point, her body language and her racket all screaming for victory. Venus, 29, usually the more quiet and contemplative of the pair, only seemed to retreat further within herself. Serena never stopped in the second set, breaking the all-time sister tie.
"I don't think the loss has set in yet, because I'm still smiling," Venus said.
With a few more minutes to think, Serena told NBC: "Now that I won, I can say it. It's really awesome."
In 1998, when Venus Williams had already burst onto the world stage wearing braids and beads, Richard Williams kept telling everybody that his youngest daughter, Serena, would be even better.
In 1999, Serena was the first to win a major championship, claiming victory at the United States Open. After a two-year period of injury and recovery from the death of another sister, Serena does not appear to be stopping any time soon.
The Williams sisters have combined for eight singles titles at Wimbledon this decade, with only Maria Sharapova (2004) and Amelie Mauresmo (2006) breaking the family run.
Serena had little time to savor the victory and Venus little time to wallow. They were expected back on Centre Court for their doubles final against Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs in but a few hours, hoping to capture their fourth title together at Wimbledon.
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