By PA Sport Staff

Venus Williams produced an awesome display of power tennis to blast rising Russian star Elena Dementieva off court in the Olympic women's tennis final in Sydney .

The American needed just 58 minutes to beat the number 10 seed 6-2 6-4 and secure an Olympic gold medal she will be able to hang round the Wimbledon and US Open trophies she has already won this year in the best run of her career so far.

Her winning streak now stands at 32 matches and on the kind of form she displayed, there is little sign of it ending any time soon.

Dementieva showed no signs of being overawed by the occasion, matching Williams, 20, hit for hit from the baseline to hold her service in a tightly fought opening game.

But her opponent responded with a service game to love and sustained that level of pressure to take the first set 6-2, dropping a total of just four points on her serve.

One ace in particular underlined the gulf between Williams at her best and the rest of the field. Fired straight at Dementieva's body at 103 mph, the Russian only just managed to get out of its way far less get a racquet to it.

When Williams raced to a 4-1 lead in the second, it looked as if proceedings were about to be brought to an even hastier end than they finally were.

Williams appeared to be thinking along similar lines and the first lapse in her concentration allowed Dementieva to break serve for the first time.

But the Russian was unable to hold her own service and although she rallied again to 5-4 was unable to sustain the momentum.

She managed to save Williams first two match points but her brave resistance finally came to an end when she hit a cross court backhand just wide of the sideline, prompting a delirious response from Williams, who dropped her racquet, threw her hands in the air and broke into a huge smile.

The American, whose task here was eased by the absence of world number one Martina Hingis and the withdrawal of outgoing champion Lindsay Davenport through injury, could go home with two gold medals. She plays in Thursday's women's doubles final with sister Serena.

Dementieva, who turns 19 next month, will also go home happy, having confirmed her emergence as one of the rising forces in the women's game after her run to the US Open semi-finals.

AFP