Venus vanquishes Serena, then duo take doubles title

It had been five years since they had played each other in a Grand Slam singles final, and the long wait resulted in one of their most intense and entertaining matches.

Despite a ferocious start by Serena, the seventh-seeded Venus was able to absorb the shock and gradually impose her long-limbed presence on Centre Court at the All England Club. Her 7-5, 6-4 victory gave her a fifth Wimbledon singles title and left Serena with two.

"I can't believe it's five, but when you're in the final against Serena Williams, five seems so far away from that first point," Venus said in her post-match remarks to the crowd. "She played so awesome. It was really a task to beat her."

Although Serena hugged her older sister at the net and was gracious on the court, this defeat was clearly a major blow to the 26-year-old, who has worked herself into fine shape but has not won a Grand Slam singles title since her surprise run at the 2007 Australian Open.

"I don't think I'm satisfied with the way I played today," said Serena, who was the sixth seed. "For me, there's nothing to be satisfied about."

Serena beat Venus in their previous joint Wimbledon finals in 2002 and 2003.

This was Venus' second consecutive title and her third in four years, but it was the number "five" that popped into her head immediately after she had secured the match on a backhand error by Serena.

"Winning this tournament so many times definitely puts you in the stratosphere, to be honest, just because of what this tournament means," the 28-year-old said. "I think had I had this achievement at any other tournament, it would have been awesome but not nearly the same meaning as at Wimbledon.

"I think the difference is just because of the prestige of the event."

Venus won her second title of the day when she and Serena triumphed in the doubles final. The 11th-seeded sisters defeated 16th-seeded Lisa Raymond of Wayne and Samantha Stosur of Australia, 6-2, 6-2.

Venus Williams is certainly a different player here. Her only other Grand Slam singles titles came in the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001.

Unlike Serena, she has never won the game's two other Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open and French Open. Injuries and health concerns, including anemia last year, have hindered her training and her performance.

"She's taking her medication that she should be taking and doing much better," said Oracene Price, the sisters' mother and co-coach. "She was having asthma last year, and she'd never had asthma."

But Wimbledon seems to be a cure for whatever ails Venus.

Venus lost her serve once in each set yesterday, but if she had not saved her best serves for when she needed them most, she easily could have been broken on three or four more occasions. In total, Serena failed to convert on 11 of her 13 break points as the 6-foot-1 Venus frequently jammed her by hitting serves into the body. In the first game of the second set, she held serve after hitting the fastest serve ever recorded by a woman at Wimbledon: 129 m.p.h.

"I think that was her tactic, was to serve every ball to the body; I'm glad she did it, because next time I know what to expect," said Serena, in a tight-lipped mood after the match. "I knew what she was doing. It was very readable."

When Serena finally did break Venus, in the second set, prevailing on her seventh break point of the marathon game to take a 2-1 lead, she then lost her own serve much more quickly in the next game to let Venus get back to 2-all.

Serena looked visibly dejected after that, and though she was still an imposing presence on the court, Venus was the more audible presence down the stretch: shrieking as she leaned into her ground strokes and playing world-class defense.

Meanwhile, Serena was uncharacteristically quiet.