Venus Williams Wins Wimbledon, Beats Serena

WIMBLEDON, England — Venus Williams won her fifth Wimbledon singles title Saturday, beating younger sister Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 in the final.

Defending champion Venus is 5-2 in Wimbledon finals, losing only to Serena in 2002 and '03. The win at the All England Club gave Venus her seventh major title.

The match was the seventh Grand Slam final between the American sisters, with Serena leading 5-2. They are now 8-8 overall.

Venus and Serena play later Saturday in the women's doubles final.

Comments

[strandwolf]

Yeah, well, Serena is a total 'knocksout':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw-AMJb2G04

[Jazzcomedian]

Very high quality match. The best I've seen them play against each other in a Grand Slam Final Only thing it lacked was a tight hard fought third set to make it a classic like when Venus defeated Davenport at Wimbledon in 2005. That tight till the very end.

Serena is still guarded, and sulks when she loses, but Venus has become very thoughtful, charming, and gracious in both victory and defeat. The women's game has a lot more depth these days--making it a lot more interesting than it used to be.

[ohiomark]

"Tennis is ping pong played while standing on the table"------George Carlin.

[raker]

I haven't watched the Williams sisters in years. Do they still sulk when they lose and hop up and down when they win and act unsportsmanlike toward their opponents? Here's to you, Justine Henin, whereever you are.

[goodtomeetyou]

Yes, they're still winning.

[raker]

It's 2008 in Bushworld, so that's all that matters.

[SFreeborn]

I'm so proud of these young, beautiful, dignified athletes. Venus & Serena make me feel patriotism as an American woman and appreciation for the possibilities for women's accomplishments here.

Congrats to both on the doubles match today too! It occurs to me that Venus is aptly named for her beauty and strength. What a fine young woman for our young Americans to look up to as they find their own way in life.

[guajiro]

Ok, I've looked but I can't find any quote from Rush Bimbaugh praising the Williams sisters. Surely I must be looking in the wrong place.

[FebM]

For me this was like the democratic primary contest, either way we win!

[thankulord13]

Amen to that!

[suuzie]

Congrats, Venus and Serena! I am so proud of both of you.

Pay no attention to the haters, as I am sure you don't.

[jeun28]

Go girls well played. I am always amazed by the negativity they receive as atheletes. It seems that whenever any minority player does well in a predominantly white sport, there is always this resentment that manifest itself with hate. I see it with Tiger, even in politics. There is this knee jerk reaction that "others" cannot accept that they are good. What is even more surprising is even in the national competition when they represent the US, US citizens cheer for the others than their own player. Just look at some of the comment made on this thread alone and even with the commentators. I am marveled by the level of hate and when it is called out, you see defensive posture. Go Girls, keep it going, you are the only players the US has, the US men have not been playing well [andy or blake]

[darthmaul]

Maybe with the Williams sisters, but not with Tiger. He's lionized if you will forgive the pun. And is considered invincible.

The one thing that the Williams sisters have been dinged for is their outside interest, or in short they do things other then play Tennis. This was pointed out on an NPR piece today, and the commentator noted that while others who have done nothing but play tennis have fallen by the wayside or quit, the Williams sisters are still going strong. Kudos to them. Their the greatest!

[Mdazes]

SHOUT OUT TO MR WILLIAMS. The man behind these champions.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

It's amazing to see these two sisters on top for so long. It shows they must have some great work ethics because most modern women tennis stars peter out in their early 20's. They are going old school with it like Chrissy Everett and Martina Navrátilová.

[Exit]

I love them both but Serena is still my favorite.

[brickhouse]

Congrats Vee on your win! I think both, Vee and Ree are the greatest women tennis players at this place in time.

Congrats Vee & Ree on winning the Doubles Finals, too!

I am also thankful for the strong family they have because I know these women had alot of obstacles to climb to reach the top.

[damond42tx]

Venus stated last night that she wanted it to be only 2 sets. she met her goal.

Good work my sisters!!!

Continue success and many more blessing.

[savethecountry]

I picked Venus in three sets. The first set was top-quality tennis. The second set was less so, but still pretty good and full of drama (how about that third game?). I thought that if Venus didn't get a lot of first serves in, then she'd be in trouble. She didn't get in a lot of firsts, but she defended her second serve as well as I've EVER seen her do. That and Serena let too many break points fall by the wayside.

Grass, more than any other surface, brings out the best in Venus. Serena's ahead of her on hard courts, and neither is more than just a little above average on clay. But on grass, where Venus' serve, net play, movement and ability to improvise shots on the sometimes uneven courts are all rewarded, Venus is quickly becoming the equal of Billie Jean King, Steffi Graff and Martina Navratilova, the three greatest female players ever on the lawns at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

As long as Venus wants to play, she will be a factor at Wimbledon.

[dsbsh]

As one who watched all of the players you mentioned, I agree with everything you say here. I'll add that Venus plays the grass court game with similar grace, although her power game does remind me more of Steffi than the other two. Serena's power game makes her a bit better on hard courts. It's great to see America have such great champions, and it's particularly cool that they went on to win the doubles as a team a few hours later. But I still have one complaint: I'm still waiting for a day when someone besides Venus beats Serena, and Serena can actually concede that the winner "was a bit better than me today." When they broke onto the scene, they were cocky teenagers like many young athletes, but Venus grew up.

[hilaritee]

i have to agree with you...i like them both but that bubble that they must live in has not helped serena develop much humility. athletes often offer platitudes about losing but those seemingly empty statements are a form of graciousness, especially in loss. serena needs to work on that; i am afraid that she will never develop it.

[bikerdude]

The thing I like about their play is that they can win on grass or in the parking lot if necessary. Versatile atheletes, superior tennis players and classy ladies.