Israel Saria
Eurosport –
Venus Williams beat her younger sister Serena 7-5 6-4 to win her fifth Wimbledon trophy and seventh Grand Slam title in a dramatic final.
Williams, who successfully defended the title for the second time in her career to claim her third Wimbledon trophy in four years, said she had mixed feelings about the victory.
“My first job is big sister and I take that very seriously,” the 28-year-old Venus said after wrapping up the win in one hour and 51 minutes.
The two women had faced off in six previous Grand Slam finals, including twice at the All England Club, with only their first such meeting at the 2001 US Open final going to Venus.
After breaking in the opening game of the match Serena looked to have the upper hand yet again, dominating the start of the opening set with her big groundstrokes and powerful first serve.
But the 26-year-old repeatedly failed to administer the killer blow to her older sister, missing out on four break points in the first set alone.
“She was a little bit better today and it didn’t work out the way I planned,” the sixth seeded Serena said after the match.
Venus relied on a bit of luck and a bit of generosity from her sibling in order to find her way back into the opening set.
First, the elder American held a nervy service game to deuce to keep the deficit to one break after a critical let cord went her way.
Then after the defending champion lingered in the set long enough to break back in the seventh game, a peculiar incident occurred in the ninth game whereby Serena accidentally yelled “no” in the middle of a point when the ball was still in play.
The umpire asked the two women to replay the point after the illegal shout, but Serena refused to do so giving the point and the 5-4 advantage to her older sister.
While Serena was careless on her break point chances Venus was clinical, the defending champion confirming on her first set point after a pair of unforced errors from the 26-year-old allowed her to break for the opener.
Venus also made a nervous start to the second set, being forced to save another break point, but held the opening game in the end with a Wimbledon record equalling 129mph service winner.
Serena was again able to put her sibling under tremendous strain in her very next service game, as Venus saved six break points in a 14-minute long marathon before finally surrendering the break after slipping to the grass on two consecutive points at the baseline.
The now seven-time Grand Slam champion struck straight back, however, capitalising on a pair of critical errors from Serena to break back and level the second set at 2-2.
The match then returned to a consistent pattern with the two women trading comfortable service games, until Venus broke again in the tenth to claim the title on her second championship point after Serena sent a backhand error well wide.
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