Tennis News
Serena powers to glory
Serena Williams secured a third Wimbledon title at the expense of older sister Venus 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 in a surprisingly one-sided women's singles final.Once again the pre-match speculation focused on the likelihood of a timid all-Williams affair but there was no quarter given as the opening games went to serve.
Venus looked likely to take an early advantage in the seventh game of the opening set but Serena battled back from 15-40 to hold, powering a kicking second serve to save the first break point and Venus hitting an attempted pass long on the second as the chance disappeared.
With serve dominating it was no surprise that the opening set came down to a tie-break and it was Serena who seized the initiative with a forehand winner at 3-2 before going on to secure the set with relative ease.
In what was a repeat of the 2008 final it was Venus who was narrow favourite going into the match but with a heavy knee strapping and a faltering serve her chances of retaining the title began to fade.
The reigning champion and five-times winner was clearly unable to match the power shown by her younger sibling and when faced with her first break point in game 19, Venus double-faulted to hand the advantage to Serena.
The 27-year-old didn't look back as she took complete control of the match, winning four straight games to claim her 11th Grand Slam title and an eighth Williams Wimbledon victory in the last 10 years.