Venus back on top in Williams hierarchy

LONDON (Reuters) - After nearly two hours of brutal power tennis on Center Court on Saturday Serena Williams punched a backhand into the tramlines to hand older sister Venus her fifth Wimbledon title.

The celebrations of 28-year-old Venus were muted. There was no jig of joy or girly giggles that had accompanied her victory here last year against French outsider Marion Bartoli but the contented smile said it all.

After losing to 26-year-old Serena in their last five meetings in grand slam finals, including the 2002 and 2003 showdowns at Wimbledon, her 7-5 6-4 victory meant big sister had finally put little sister in her place.

A brief embrace at the net was as emotional as it got before Venus set off to parade the Rosewater Dish around a sunlit court. The sisterly words of comfort would have been saved for the privacy of the locker room.

"My first job is big sister, I take that very seriously," Venus said on Center Court, in front of her family minus father Richard who was back in Florida.

Looking out for little sister did not extend to her tennis. A 129 mph (208 kph) serve, the fastest by a woman at Wimbledon, was proof she was pulling no punches.

Serena began the final like a whirlwind, crunching two forehand winners of immense power and a sizzling crosscourt backhand to break serve in the opening game before holding her own serve to love.

Venus then slipped 0-30 down in her next service game but rallied to 40-30. The next point allayed any fears that the final would fizzle out into the lame, lop-sided affair witnessed when Serena beat Venus in the 2002 final.

With Venus stranded at the net, Serena advanced to drill a ferocious backhand straight at her sister who produced a stunning reflex volley to get on the scoreboard.

STREET FIGHTERS

Battle was commenced and the sisters who learnt the game on public courts in Compton went at it like street fighters.

Venus dug deep to save another break point at 1-3 and then got lucky with a net cord, prompting a fleeting glare from Serena. Both players struggled with a teasing wind, particularly Venus with her ball toss but she broke back to level at 4-4 with a return that arrowed to Serena's feet on the baseline.

The sisters were briefly in unity when Venus had a point for 5-4. After Serena called out during a rally the Portuguese umpire Carlos Ramos ordered the point to be replayed, even though that would have disadvantaged Venus. Serena simply walked to her chair and Ramos changed his mind.

A poor Serena backhand handed Venus the first set and she never looked like relinquishing her lead.

A visibly disgruntled Serena did break after a messy 20-minute game at 1-1 in the second but Venus hit back straight away. The pair traded thunderbolts in a 23-stroke rally at 4-4 with Venus now the aggressor and sister getting the runaround.

Two match points arrived in the following game. A screaming ace saved one of them but Venus would not be denied her seventh grand slam title and a place among Wimbledon's greats.

(Editing by Clare Lovell)