Venus Williams served so hard to win her fourth Wimbledon singles title that opponent Marion Bartoli was left nursing a painful wrist.

The Williams power was epitomised by the winning shot, a 126mph unreturnable serve straight into the midriff of the 22-year-old Frenchwoman.

And Williams later revealed that Pete Sampras was the inspiration behind it all.

Venus and sister Serena studied tapes of Sampras in his prime when he was recognised as the world's most consistent server. And as they practised in Compton, California, they vowed that they would dominate the women's game as he did the men's.

After Venus had beaten Bartoli 6-4 6-1 in a final which was more hard-fought than the scoreline suggests and paraded her fourth Venus Rosewater Dish around the Centre Court she said: "Serena and I were inspired by anything and everything and we always tried to have something to be an example to us.

"We would always say we needed to hold serve the way he (Sampras) did. Look, he didn't lose serve all summer. C'mon why are we losing serve?

"We would pump each other up, do whatever it took to get to the next level. For a few years when he was playing obviously we would try to study it."

The power Williams generated was all the more remarkable considering she had months out of the game with a damaged wrist last year and had struggled in the first half of this year to regain the form which once made her the most intimidating player on the women's tour.

She had even struggled in her earlier matches at this Wimbledon.

But as Bartoli, the shock finalist after beating Justine Henin in the semi-final, said: "She served 120 miles on first serve. Sometimes it was hurting my wrist so bad because the ball was coming so fast to me.

"It was a little tight because when you receive a ball at 120 miles you get some shock into the wrist which I'm not used to because I don't play against girls every day hitting the balls like this."

That's because, other than Serena, no other woman comes close to Venus' power on a regular basis.

The intriguing question now is whether Williams, who joined the four-times Wimbledon champion club inhabited by Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Billie-Jean King in the Open era, can go on to win more Wimbledons and more Grand Slams.

At 27 she is young enough given health and fitness and the desire and concentration which has sometimes been lacking in the Williams sisters.

At times they have appeared to get bored with tennis and been unwilling to do the hard yards required of a champion, preferring instead to pursue other challenges such as acting and fashion.

Venus, however, insisted that possessing more Wimbledon titles than Serena, who has three, will act as an incentive for them both.

"It's not necessarily a competition," said Venus. "But we do motivate each other to get more. When she sees me win here she's just going to go for it.

"When I saw her win in Australia I knew I could do it. We inspire each other like that."

As it was Venus saved her best tennis for the final, her telescopic arms and legs allowing her to get to the punishing groundstrokes of an opponent who battled for every ball.

The first set might have gone either way until Williams pulled out a brilliant 10th game and one sublime backhand drive volley.

The second was Williams dominated, before and after the bizarre 11-minute medical time-out at 3-0, during which both players had treatment from the trainer, Williams for a strained adductor muscle and Bartoli for blisters.

When they returned it was routine for Williams who received a generous tribute from her opponent.

"When she plays like this on grass it's not possible to beat her," said Bartoli. "She's just too good."