Suddenly Serena

Younger sister takes Wimbledon title

Serena Williams won both Wimbledon and the French Open in 2002. AP

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- The balance of power in the Williams household has shifted. It's Serena who's in command now.

Serena beat older sister Venus in straight sets for the Wimbledon title Saturday in the best of their all-in-the-family Grand Slam finals so far.

In a match featuring ferocious hitting by both players, Serena outslugged Venus 7-6 (4), 6-3 for her first Wimbledon championship and third major title.

It was the third all-Williams Grand Slam final in 10 months, with Serena winning her second in a row.

Serena has now won three straight matches against Venus, who still holds a 5-4 career edge. Serena had already been assured of supplanting Venus at No. 1 in the new rankings to be released Monday.

"I wanted to win so bad," Serena said. "I kept thinking to myself, `OK, Serena just stay calm.' She already has two Wimbledons. Try to fight.' "

The first set featured the highest quality play in any recent match between the sisters. The second set, though, was less compelling as Venus' game sagged.

Williams Head-to-Head Venus leads 5-4 1998 Australian Open, R64, Venus, 7-6 (4), 6-1 Rome, QF, Venus, 6-4, 6-2 1999 Key Biscayne, F, Venus, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 Grand Slam Cup, F, Serena, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 2000 Wimbledon, SF, Venus, 6-2, 7-6 (3) 2001 U.S. Open, F, Venus, 6-2, 6-4 2002 Key Biscayne, SF, Serena, 6-2, 6-2 French Open, F, Serena, 7-5, 6-3 Wimbledon, F, Serena, 7-6 (4), 6-3

The 22-year-old Venus had won Wimbledon the last two years and was bidding to become the first woman to take three in a row since Steffi Graf in 1991-93.

But she was thoroughly outplayed by 20-year-old Serena, who followed up her win at the French Open last month with one of the hardest-hitting displays by a woman on Centre Court.

"It was either now or never because I was playing the two-time Wimbledon champion," Serena said. "It's hard to beat Venus here. She just wouldn't stop running balls down."

The sisters have now won seven of the past 12 Grand Slam events and look set to continue their domination of women's tennis.

"It's definitely a different feeling from playing some other players," Venus said. "Serena is my sister and I'm really happy she won, especially for her first time. I would have loved to have won, but at the same time, I'm so happy for her."

About two hours after the match, the Williams sisters returned to Centre Court and paired up in doubles to beat Anna Kournikova and Chanda Rubin 6-7 (3), 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals.

In Sunday's final, they'll face French Open champions Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascal. The Williams sisters won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2000.

Wimbledon video Click the image to launch the clip  Serena Williams thinks her sister ran out of gas, and Argentina's David Nalbandian considers his victory. Start   Oracene Williams explains how her daughters approach head-to-head matches.   CNN's Richard Quest describes the sights and sounds from the women's final at Wimbledon. Video Plus Visit Video Plus for all the latest video and audio.

Serena, who went through the tournament without dropping a set, has a 19-match winning streak and is the first woman to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back since Steffi Graf in 1996.

"In the beginning of this year, I said, `I don't care what happens this year, I want to win Wimbledon," Serena said. "And it was extra bonus for me to win the French. But I just wanted Wimbledon. I wanted to become a member of so much prestige, so much history. I want to be a part of history."

Serena dominated the 1 hour, 18 minute-match with blistering groundstrokes off both flanks and big serves. She had Venus running from side to side and playing defensive shots to stay in the points.

Serena finished with 20 winners, six more than Venus. Serena had 22 unforced errors, while Venus had 25.

"I think I played well, and high percentage tennis," Venus said. "She was just pressing and hitting a lot of forceful shots."

The match began with Serena making four errors in the first game, but both players quickly raised their level and played attacking, aggressive baseline tennis, going for the lines and corners.

The pair exchanged breaks in the third and fourth games, then Serena went up a break at 3-2 and served for the set at 5-4. But Venus broke back for 5-5, with Serena bouncing her racket in frustration after netting a backhand.

The two held serve at love to set up the tiebreaker. Serena took command by winning the eighth point to go up 5-3. She raced up to retrieve a drop shot by Venus and whipped a backhand passing shot, celebrating with a fist pump.

Serena missed her first set point at 6-3 with a backhand error, but smacked a 100 mph ace on the second to wrap up the set in 44 minutes - longer than some of the matches the sisters played this tournament.

Venus faded in the second set. Nursing a sore right shoulder, she was unable to get as much speed and power on her serves - her first serves averaged 100 mph and her second serves just 80 mph.

Serena noticed Venus' serving problems and seized her chances.

"It's a war out there," she said. "If there's a weakness, you have to attack."

Serena broke for 4-2 with help from Venus' fifth double fault. Venus broke back for 4-3, but the match turned for good when Venus served her sixth double fault - a 67 mph duck which was wide by six inches - on break point to go down 5-3.

With match point at 5-3, 40-love, Serena bent over and took a deep breath before serving.

"I was thinking, `Always think on the bright side,' " she said. "Just have to stay calm."

When Venus hit a forehand return into the net, Serena dropped her racket, looked around and went to meet her sister at the net. The two embraced and Venus affectionately put her right arm around Serena's shoulders.

But Serena's celebrations were relatively subdued, even when she accepted the winner's plate -- the Venus Rosewater Dish -- from Princess Alexandra.

For only the second time in 25 years, the Duchess of Kent was not at Wimbledon to hand the plate to the singles champion. Officials for the duchess said she had a "private family engagement."

Serena won $739,000, while Venus collected $370,000.

Their first all-Williams Grand Slam final was at September's U.S. Open on hard courts, when Venus won 6-2, 6-4. The next came last month at the French Open on clay, when Serena won 7-5, 6-3.

Sister Slam III was also the first all-sibling Wimbledon final since the very first tournament in 1884, when Maud Watson beat her older sister, Lillian.

While the Williams sisters were playing on Centre Court, Argentina's David Nalbandian completed a five-set win over Belgium's Xavier Malisse on Court 1 to advance to the men's final against Lleyton Hewitt.

They had split the first two sets Saturday before the match was suspended by rain and darkness. Nalbandian won 7-6 (2), 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 6-2.

Nalbandian is the first South American man to reach the Wimbledon final since Peru's Alex Olmedo won the title in 1959. He's also the first player in the Open era to make the final in his Wimbledon debut.

Nalbandian will be a huge underdog in Sunday's final against the top-seeded Hewitt, who beat Tim Henman 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 Friday.

 

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