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| |  Saturday, 6 July, 2002, 14:34 GMT 15:34 UK Serena takes Wimbledon title A second Slam of the year for Serena Serena Williams beat Venus Williams 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 Serena Williams confirmed her position as the world number one by beating her sister Venus to claim a first Wimbledon title.
The younger of the sisters looked sharper throughout the match and was ahead from the early stages as she ended Venus' dreams of a third successive championship. As on previous occasions the two rarely produced their best form at the same time - though the quality of tennis was breathtaking from both players at times. And such was the awesome power displayed by Serena, reigning champion Venus was repeatedly left floundering like so many others this year. The Centre Court crowd took time to become fully involved in the match, only raising their voices in the first-set tie-break.
After a cautious start from both players it was Serena who made the initial break in the fourth game, and she looked on her way to the opening set. But eight straight points from Venus when 5-4 down left Serena happy to take it into a tie-break. And it was her fierce hitting form the baseline that gave her the edge, going ahead at 4-2 and finishing the set with an ace. Venus looked tired as the second set opened and struggled to hold her first service game, but soon had a chance to get back in the match. With the score at 1-1, the champion manufactured a break-point only to see her sister fire down a huge ace.
Any thoughts that the two players might not be motivated were dispelled by Serena, who pumped her fists as she moved ahead. And as Venus missed more regularly from the baseline Serena stepped up another gear, doing even more damage with her backhand. The seventh game of the second set saw the world number one break as Venus put a forehand in the net, and the next two games went against the serve to leave Serena serving for the title. She was not about to let the chance slip away and took the crown from her sister with four huge serves, before the pair embraced at the net. And while Serena took the applause of the crowd, a decidely low-key Venus looked understandably disappointed that her time as Wimbedon champion had come to an end. | |
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