It had been five years since they had played a Grand Slam singles final together, and the long wait resulted in one of their most intense and entertaining matches despite the gusty conditions that made Centre Court feel more like a wind tunnel.
But there is still no doubt about which Williams sister has the best record at Wimbledon.
Despite a ferocious start from Serena, Venus was able to absorb the shock and gradually impose her long-limbed presence on her favorite tennis court. 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 postmatch remarks to the crowd. “She played so awesome. It was really a task to beat her.”
But it remains even more of a task to beat Venus at the All England Club. This was her second straight title and her third in four years.
Despite struggling this season, failing to win a tournament in the run-up to Wimbledon, she swept through the draw without dropping a set.
She had to tone down her celebration Saturday.
“I’m definitely more in tune with my sister’s feelings because one of us has to win and one of us has to lose,” Venus said. “Of course the celebration isn’t as exciting because my sister just lost.”
Serena was able to celebrate on Centre Court later Saturday, because she and Venus teamed to win the doubles title.
That win helped Serena get out of her postmatch funk.
“Serena thinks everything is supposed to go her way, that’s the bottom line,” said her mother, Oracene Price, who sat in the players’ guest box for both matches. “She thinks that’s the way it’s supposed to go in life. But this is life.”
Bottom line: grass is not her cup of tea in England.
The sisters are now even all time, 8-8, in their singles meetings. Serena leads 5-2 in major finals, but big sister got some payback Saturday.
•BRIT BRIGHT: Britain collected its first Wimbledon singles championship in 24 years. OK, so it wasn’t the men’s title or the women’s title, but it was a title, nonetheless. Laura Robson, a 14-year-old who was born in Australia but moved to England when she was 6, won the girls’ title at the All England Club. She beat 16-year-old Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
•TWO-MAN SHOW: Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia teamed for a 7-6 (14-12), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-3 win over Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Kevin Ullyet of Zimbabwe in the men’s doubles final.
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.