| Page 2 of 2 < |
Venus Williams Wins Wimbledon
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Through the tournament's first six rounds, no woman came close to beating a Williams. Neither sister lost a set entering Saturday'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. She drilled a shot squarely into Venus's gut at one point. And she shouted, "Come on!" to pump herself up after taking a 4-2 lead.
Unlike some of their previous matches, there was no doubting the level of desire and effort on display. It was full tilt.
Serena brandished more brute force, serving more aces and tallying more outright winners. It's doubtful more power has ever been packed into a frilly white tennis dress, in fact. Serena was also the more demonstrative, clenching her fist after particularly great shots and groaning and grunting throughout.
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.
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 ons.' 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."
