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[article_id] => 1044892
[headline] => Serena Williams wins Wimbledon title
[abstract] =>
Serena Williams clinched her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam crown with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victory over sister Venus, the defending champion, here on Saturday.
[keywords] => Wimbledon, Williams, womens
[content] =>
Serena Williams clinched her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam crown with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victory over sister Venus, the defending champion, here on Saturday.
The victory added to her 2002 and 2003 wins at the All England Club and shattered Venus's hopes of a hat-trick of titles and sixth overall which would have taken her level with Billie Jean King.
Saturday's final was the fourth all-Williams title match-up at Wimbledon and eighth in all Grand Slams with the win giving Serena the edge in head-to-head meetings at 11-10.
Of the eight major finals the sisters have faced each other in, Serena has won six.
"It feels so amazing. I'm so blessed. I feel like I shouldn't really be holding the trophy, Venus should be holding it, she always wins," said Serena who currently holds three of the four Grand Slam titles.
"I can't believe I have won 11 majors. It's a real honour."
‘Better player’
Venus, 29, admitted Serena had been the better player of the two.
"She was just too good today. She had an answer for everything and played the best tennis," said Venus after a final fittingly staged on US Independence Day.
"I don't think the loss has set in yet, that's why I'm still smiling. But I have had some great times here and I'm looking forward to coming back next year."
Serve dominated the first set with 27-year-old Serena fighting off the only two break points in the eighth game and it was the younger of the two sisters who seized control of the tiebreak.
Serena went to three set points by forcing Venus to scramble from side to side before putting away a powerful crosscourt forehand.
Venus saved the first set point but was powerless when a pinpoint lob from her sister left her stranded at the net.
It was the first set Venus had dropped at Wimbledon since the third round in 2007, a run of 34 consecutive winning sets.
Serena, who had saved match point in her marathon semi-final win over Elena Dementieva, carved out her first set point when Venus double-faulted to hand her a 4-2 lead and revenge for last year's final defeat to her sister looked likely.
Second seed Serena held to love, backed-up by her 12th ace of the match, to lead 5-2.
She then wasted three match points in the eighth game but clinched the title when Venus netted with a forehand.
[start_date] => 05 July 2009 | 10:03:18 AM
[comments_allowed] => 1
[source] => AAP
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[caption] => Serena Williams celebrates after winning the womens doubles final match with her sister Venus Williams. Serena had earlier beat Venus to take the women's Wimbledon title. (AAP)
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[label] => Williams sisters beat Aussie duo in Wimbledon doubles final
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[id] => 1044577
[label] => Federer braced for comeback kid
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[headline] => Williams sisters beat Aussie duo in Wimbledon doubles final
[abstract] =>
Serena and Venus Williams beat Australians Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs in the Wimbledon women's doubles final on Saturday.
[content] =>
Serena and Venus Williams beat Australians Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs in the Wimbledon women's doubles final on Saturday.
The fourth-seeded Americans defeated the No.3 seeds 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 for their fourth doubles title from the All England Club.
Just four hours before the match started, Serena beat older sister and defending champion Venus in straight sets to claim her third Wimbledon singles crown.
Stubbs and Stosur had only played a handful of matches together when they lost to the siblings in the third round of this year's Australian Open.
And Stubbs said she and Stosur had learned from that encounter.
"They're very intimidating and they put a lot of pressure on you," Stubbs said.
"They put a lot of pressure on your serve because they return so well ... and they serve just massive.
"Coming in here we'd had a lot more matches and more experience and we felt that we had a chance if we served well and we knew we could break them from time to time because we'd done it before.
"I think we proved today that we were one or two points away from maybe flipping that around, that score."
Stosur said: "I actually don't know if it's better or worse playing them after a singles final because they're obviously playing well and they've already played and felt it out there, but
it's a Wimbledon final and it's something to be proud of."
The Australians claimed an early break for a 2-1 lead, but the Williamses broke back to draw level at 4-4 in the first set.
Stubbs, the 38-year-old veteran playing her 19th Wimbledon, saved a break point that would have given her opponents the set with a neat half volley under pressure that Venus could not get back over the net and the Australians held serve to force the tiebreak.
But mini-breaks on the second and final points gave the American duo a one-set lead.
In the second set, the Australians fought off three break points in the third game.
Turning point
But the turning point came in the seventh game when Serena converted a break point with an excellent volley that sailed past Stosur and bounced deep in the back of the court.
Stosur and Stubbs avoided being broken again on championship point but Serena sealed victory in the next game with an ace.
Serena said: "There's nothing like winning a title with your sister. It's really a good feeling."
Venus agreed: "Definitely."
The Williams sisters won also won the doubles at SW19 in 2008, 2002 and 2000.
Stubbs was making her first grand slam finals appearance since winning the doubles at Wimbledon with Cara Black of Zimbabwe in 2004.
That victory came three years after Stubbs teamed up with American Lisa Raymond to win the 2001 title.
Australian Sally Peers and Thai partner Noppawan Lertcheewakarn will play in the girls' doubles final against Kristina Mladenovic of France and Croatia's Silvia Njiric on Sunday.
[content_type_id] => 3
[site_name] => World News Australia
[articledate] => 5 July 2009
[articletime] => 5 July 2009
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[article_id] => 1044577
[headline] => Federer braced for comeback kid
[abstract] => Roger Federer will attempt to write a new chapter in tennis history on
Sunday when he targets a record 15th Grand Slam title by beating
Wimbledon comeback kid Andy Roddick.
[content] =>
Roger Federer will attempt to write a new chapter in tennis history on Sunday when he targets a record 15th Grand Slam title by beating Wimbledon comeback kid Andy Roddick.
Five-time champion Federer is playing in a seventh straight Wimbledon final, and a record 20th Grand Slam title match, where victory will take him past Pete Sampras's mark of 14 majors he equalled with his French Open win in June.
Roddick, desperate for a second major to add to his 2003 US Open title, has been here before, losing the 2004 and 2005 All England Club finals to Federer.
"I'm very proud of all the records I've achieved, because I never thought I would be that successful as a kid," said Federer, who lost his five-year grip on the title to Rafael Nadal here last year.
"I would have been happy winning a couple tournaments and maybe collecting Wimbledon, achieving the dream scenario.
"It's quite staggering. Having so many things going for me now again, it's fantastic."
The form book favours Federer, who has won a staggering 18 of his 20 match-ups with Roddick.
Roddick rejuvanated
But having seen off Tommy Haas in straight sets to reach the final, Federer is aware of the danger posed by a rejuvenated Roddick, who ended Andy Murray's bid to become Britain's first men's Wimbledon champion in 73 years.
The 26-year-old American's four-set, semi-final win put him into a first Grand Slam final in three years and it was achieved with a clever mix of trademark big serves, fierce groundstrokes and a composed performance at the net.
Federer is aware of Roddick's gifts.
"I've played him 20 times, so I've had plenty of time to study his game, to understand his game," he said.
"He's always played me also quite differently every single time I've played him. In the beginning of his career, I remember back in 2003, he was sometimes standing way back on the return.
"But then I played him one year and he chipped and charged a lot, and came to the net a lot. I've also played him when he's serve and volleyed first and second serve almost.
"I've had many different looks against Roddick. I enjoy how he leaves everything out on the court. I can only marvel at how incredible his serve is. I like playing against him, not only just because of the record."
Veteran coach praised
Roddick, whom many people had written off as a serious force in the dominant age of Federer and Nadal, believes his decision to hire veteran coach Larry Stefanki has paid dividends.
"He's certainly is well-studied. He kind of picks the right times to discuss stuff. It's not always the same, it doesn't feel monotonous. It's not always the same time that he picks and chooses to talk about an upcoming match," said the American.
"I certainly got the sense that he believed that we could get back to this point. That was large."
But Roddick also admits that there was a stage last year when he thought he would never make another Grand Slam final.
He was at his lowest ebb after suffering his earliest exit here in 2008 when he was beaten in the second round by Janko Tipsarevic, a defeat which forced him to question his future at the highest level.
But after discussing his future with wife Brooklyn Decker, Roddick decided to carry on and seek improvements in 2009.
"Last year after I played here, that was a hard, hard couple of weeks," said Roddick.
"Brook and I had a lot of talks on if I still thought I could play and at least be towards the top of the game. I definitely openly questioned it at that point.
"So this off-season, we said if you're not going to be up there, let's at least not wonder. Let's prepare yourself and give yourself every opportunity.
"I did work real hard and have been committed from everything to diet to sleep to everything. I certainly gave myself every opportunity to succeed."
[content_type_id] => 3
[site_name] => World News Australia
[articledate] => 4 July 2009
[articletime] => 4 July 2009
[display_order] => 2
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