WIMBLEDON, England – In the face of wildly gusting winds and her most feared opponent, Venus Williams was forced to produce some of the best shots of her career – including a 129-mph serve – to win her fifth Wimbledon championship yesterday.
But she refrained from displaying her signature move after the 7-5, 6-4 triumph, choosing not to jump up and down on Centre Court in celebration as she has in years past.
Venus' younger sister Serena was across the net, after all. And Serena, who revels in her role as the spoiled baby of the Williams family, has always taken losses hard.
So Venus met her courtside with an embrace, trying as best she could to rein in the euphoria she felt.
“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 explained afterward. “The celebration isn't as exciting because my sister just lost.”
But the awkward family dynamics did nothing to diminish the grandeur of Venus' achievement in hoisting Wimbledon's traditional silver salver, prophetically named the Venus Rosewater dish in 1886, for a fifth time.
Only two women have won more Wimbledon singles titles in the open era, Martina Navratilova (nine) and Steffi Graf (seven). Navratilova looked on from the Royal Box yesterday as Venus took another step toward equaling her record. So did six-time Wimbledon singles champion Billie Jean King, a mentor, friend and occasional coach of both Williams sisters since they emerged from the public courts of Compton.
Yesterday's Wimbledon championship was the first time the Williams sisters had met in the finals of a Grand Slam event since 2003. Neither was seeded among the top five. But after suffering early-round defeats in last month's French Open, both arrived at Wimbledon healthy and hungry to reclaim their place among the best.
Venus, 28, had extra motivation. She was eager to defend her 2007 Wimbledon title. And she was equally eager to chip away at Serena's 5-1 career record against her in their previous Grand Slam finals. Venus hadn't defeated Serena in the finals of a major tournament, in fact, since the 2001 U.S. Open.
Through the tournament's first six rounds, no woman came close to beating a Williams. Neither sister lost a set entering yesterday's final.
But Venus started poorly, losing her serve in the first game and trailing 1-3 after just a few minutes.
Serena, 26, was the fearless one, blasting shots past her older sister without remorse.
But Venus was the steadier player. And as the first set ground on, her fortunes improved.
She broke Serena to level the score at 4. And she broke her again to win the first set.
The shift in momentum rattled Serena, and her groundstrokes started missing their mark.
“I think I just lost rhythm and then I made a lot of errors. Nothing I was doing seemed to work,” she said.
Against any other opponent, Serena could have looked to the players' guest box for a sign of encouragement from her mother, Oracene Price, or her sisters – a clenched fist, perhaps, or a simple nod.
But not on this day. “It's hard to look up there because I don't know what they're thinking,” Serena said.
It was hard for the sisters' guests, too, who included their respective agents and hitting partners.
“There wasn't much clapping,” said David Witt, who trains with Venus. “There were no, 'Come on's.' There wasn't really much talking. We love both of them. It was just tough.”
So the sisters played on, looking inside for their strength.
And on this day, Venus found a bit more – not because she ignored the fact that Serena stood across the net, but because she honored it.
“At no point am I ever able to forget that it's Serena because I have the ultimate respect for her game, and I have a lot of respect for her serve,” Venus said. “If I was playing anyone else, I wouldn't have to face what I had to face today. It's impossible to forget.”
In the women's doubles final, the Williams sisters defeated Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-2. Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic beat Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett 7-6 (14-12), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-3 for the men's doubles title.
