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| |  Saturday, 6 July, 2002, 16:27 GMT 17:27 UK Serena fulfils promise Serena and Venus Williams dominated Wimbledon
Newly crowned Wimbledon champion Serena Williams said winning the title had fulfilled a target she had set herself at the beginning of the year. The younger Williams sister began the 2002 season with only one Grand Slam title under her belt.
But she followed up her French Open triumph in April by winning the Wimbledon trophy without dropping a set. "At the beginning of the year, I told myself I don't care what else happens this year, I want to win Wimbledon," she said. "I really wanted to win the French but that was an extra bonus. I just wanted to win Wimbledon. "I wanted to become a member of so much prestige. I wanted to be a part of history."
"Times were low a year ago but it's high-tide now," she said. "It's all changed mentally - I'm stronger and I have a little more experience under my belt. And I wanted to win so bad." But Serena looked to have handed her sister an opportunity to get back into the match when she was broken leading 4-2 in the second set.
"When I was able to win the first set, I got a little too satisfied and I hit a couple of ridiculous shots," she explained. "At the time, I thought some day you're going to be telling your grandchildren about how you blew it." And the new champion paid tribute to her father who predicted that his young daughters would one day contest the Wimbledon final as the world's best players. "My dad always said we'd be here and here we were," she said. "It's amazing when you think about it - it's hard enough to get one champion, now he has two. "But I did a lot of work to get here and I don't regret any of it." The defeated finalist admitted that her sister had out-performed her on the day as the 21-year-old was denied a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles. "She was tremendous today," she said. "There wasn't a lot between us but on some points, she was playing shots I just couldn't get. "I kept my balls deep and on the line and she did the same - what can you do?" But the older sibling said she was pleased that Serena was finally fulfilling her early promise. "I think it's great to see Serena doing well because for a while she wasn't doing the best that she can do," she said. "I would have liked to have won today but once again it just wasn't to be." | |
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