JOIN USSerena is queen of Wimbledon
Once five-times champion Venus dumped a backhand into the net on Serena's fourth match point, the younger of the American sisters sank to her knees after finally winning her third singles crown at the grasscourt major following a six-year gap.
The 27-year-old quickly got back up on her feet to embrace Venus and then turned to lap up the applause of the 15,000 fans who had packed into a sun-kissed Centre Court.
"I feel so amazing. I'm so blessed... I feel like I shouldn't be holding the trophy. I can't believe I'm holding it and Venus isn't," said a beaming Serena as she clutched the large Venus Rosewater dish.
"It's named for Venus and she always wins. It's just like wow, hasn't settled in that I've won yet." Venus paid tribute to her sibling. "Today she was too good. She had an answer to everything. She played the best tennis today so congratulations," said the 29-year-old, who was scheduled to be back on Centre Court later on Saturday to contest the doubles final with her sister.
There could hardly have been a better way to mark the Fourth of July. Yet second seed Serena so nearly missed the party. In Thursday's semifinal she had been match-point down against Elena Dementieva before mounting a remarkable comeback.
That great escape appeared to have energised the younger of the Williams sisters and she produced a superb display of power and aggression to win her 11th grand slam title.
In a tight first set, the only break points featured on Serena's serve in the eighth game.
A second serve like a mule's kick got her out of trouble on the first while Venus made a howler of the second -- skewing a forehand long despite having an open court at her mercy.
Serena is not one to give second chances and she slammed down two aces to hold for 4-4.
Predictably the duo headed into the tiebreak, where third seed Venus was confronted by a force of nature she could not tame. An exquisitely executed backhand lob handed Serena the breaker 7-3 and with it she ended Venus's staggering run of winning 35 consecutive sets at the grasscourt major dating back to the 2007 third round.
In the second set, subtle drop shots, elegant slices and cute angles were strictly off the agenda for Serena and she went for the jugular with ferocious baseline power. Venus surrendered her serve in the sixth game of the second set with a double fault and from then on, there was only one winner.
Noppawan junior champ
Thailand’s Noppawan Lertcheewakarn won the girls’ singles title when she defeated French top seed Kristina Mladenovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Agencies