Serena outshines Venus to take Wimbledon trophy

WIMBLEDON, England – It’s rare to see Venus Williams telegraph defeat on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, where she has triumphed so many times.

But masterful serving and ruthless groundstrokes from her younger sister, Serena, who competed without regard to family ties, had Venus doing just that in Saturday’s all-Williams Wimbledon singles final.

This year it was Serena who raised the prized Venus Rosewater Dish after reducing Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion, to a tentative, error-prone also-ran.

“It feels so amazing,” Serena said after the 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory. “I’m so blessed. I can’t believe I’m holding it, and Venus isn’t. She always wins!”

The match stayed close through the first set, with each holding serve. But after winning the tiebreak, Serena ramped up her power and precision to close the contest in 87 minutes.

With the victory, Serena, 27, claimed her 11th major title and her third Wimbledon crown.

Roughly three hours later, the sisters returned to Centre Court and teamed up to defend their 2008 doubles title, defeating the Australian duo of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Fittingly, Serena blasted the ace that clinched the victory and ensured that Venus wouldn’t leave Wimbledon this year without a trophy, too.

All told, it was a breathtaking display of one family’s utter dominance of a sport. Serena bowed out having lost only one set through seven rounds of singles competition; Venus lost only two. In doubles, they never dropped a set.

Whether playing together or apart, the Williams sisters competed for two weeks on the hallowed lawn of the All England club without coming across a player who was their equal – except, of course, until Venus found herself staring across the net at Serena.

That made the quirks of the sport’s computer-based ranking system all the more peculiar.

Serena has won three of the past four majors (the 2008 U.S. Open and this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon). But she will still remain No. 2 in the world, ranked behind Russia’s Dinara Safina, who on Thursday suffered the most resounding semifinal defeat in Wimbledon’s modern era, 6-1, 6-0, to Venus. Safina, 23, has yet to win a major title.

Asked if she were disappointed by the ranking formula, Serena alternated between sarcasm and gales of laughter. “It is what it is,” she said. “I’d definitely rather be No. 2 and hold three Grand Slams in the past year than be No. 1 and not have any.”

But in the championship between the sisters, there was no mistaking who was the superior player.

The statistics told the story.

Serena served 12 aces with no double faults. Venus, who boasts the fastest serve in the women’s game, managed just two aces and coughed up three double faults, including one that handed Serena the first break of the match, in the sixth game of the second set.

Serena hit twice as many winners as unforced errors (25 to 12), while Venus’s 14 winners were offset by 18 unforced errors.

There was a palpable difference in the sisters’ on-court presence, with Serena exuding unrelenting ferocity and Venus hanging her head in dejection the more they played on.

The match was oddly quiet through the early going, particularly on Serena’s side of the net. She was all business, abandoning many of the mental ploys that intimidate most opponents – the stare-downs, fist pumps and howls.

With each sister holding serve relatively easily, there was little drama in the match until the eighth game, when Serena faced double break point. That’s when the separation between the two asserted itself, with Serena’s resolve proving unshakable. She fended off both break points (Venus walloped a forehand well beyond the baseline to squander the second) and blasted successive aces to hold.

In the tiebreak that followed, Venus committed the first error to hand her sister an early break. Serena took a 6-2 lead after yanking Venus corner to corner and then crushed a forehand winner. She closed the set with a masterful backhand lob that sailed over Venus’ 6-foot-1 frame and plopped well inside the baseline.

“I don’t think I did too many things wrong in the tiebreak,” Venus said. “I would just play a good shot, and she’d just hit a winner off of it or put me in a position where she could hit another winner.”

Both sisters are phenomenal athletes, brandishing rare speed and power. They can reach balls that few women can. Serena, in particular, can generate enormous power even when lunging full stride or hitting off balance.

She consistently did both against Venus. For all the power of her serve, Serena was equally imposing when receiving serve, attacking her sister’s weak second effort with a vengeance.

“Today she was too good,” said Venus, 29. “She had an answer for everything. She played the best tennis today, so congratulations.”

The outcome gives Serena a slight edge in the family rivalry, nudging her career record against her older sister to 11-10.

•Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia won their second straight Wimbledon men’s doubles title, beating top-seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (7), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-3.