Serena Williams celebrates her victory.
SERENA JOINS EXCLUSIVE CLUB
By Mark Staniforth, PA Sport
Serena Williams fulfilled a lifetime dream by sweeping past her elder sister on Saturday
and securing membership of one of the most exclusive clubs in tennis.
Serena's 78-minute, 7-6 6-3 victory over Venus not only won her the
prestigious Venus Rosewater Dish but also the champion's privilege of lifetime
honorary membership of the All England Club.
"I'm waiting for the pin, all the members have the pin," Serena said. "So
I'm waiting for it and I'm really excited to get it."
The 20-year-old, who also got the better of Venus in the French Open final
last month, claimed she had extra drive to win Wimbledon since her quarter-final
defeat last year by Jennifer Capriati.
"I'm a different person mentally and I'm stronger. I seem to have more
experience under my belt," she said.
"Last year at Wimbledon that was a really tough loss, it really was. I
sometimes wonder if I hadn't lost, whether things would be different now.
"Today I wanted to win so bad and I kept thinking to myself, 'Okay Serena,
just stay calm. She already has two Wimbledons. Try to fight'. And I really
played good today."
Serena's win was her fourth out of nine professional meetings with her sister
and it came in the best match the pair have played together.
Her victory underlined her position as the new world number one - a title she
would have taken from Venus even if she had lost the final.
But Serena admitted she still often looked up to her sister - the elder by one
year and three months - as the better player.
She added: "I just always believe that the way Venus plays at times, it is
impossible to beat her. Sometimes even in practice I'm really fighting just to
get the ball back.
"Sometimes I don't even think I'm a good enough partner for her because of
the way she's playing against me."
While Serena celebrated a win which calls for a bigger trophy cabinet in the
Williams family home, Venus was despondent at seeing her 24-month reign as
Wimbledon champion come to an end.
She struggled with a shoulder problem and found her serve - the fastest in the
women's game - broken four times.
Venus said: "I still feel that I am in a dominant position but it's virtually
impossible to win every match. I aspire to do so but it doesn't always happen.
"But it's great to see Serena doing well because for a while there she wasn't
doing her best. Now I think she has to feel better and she's taken full
advantage of her career."
Venus went on to dismiss the suggestions by some critics - including the
sisters' vanquished semi-final opponents Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin -
that their dominance was bad for the game.
Venus said: "I think we get a lot of attention not just for women's tennis
but for tennis in general. People are watching tennis now."
This was their second consecutive Grand Slam final meeting and will have been
watched at home in Miami by their extrovert father Richard.
Serena added: "My dad always said that one day we would be playing in the
final at Wimbledon, the US Open, the big ones.
"It's amazing really because of my dad and my mum. It's hard to get one
champion, but now they have two. And this is unbelievable really."