Venus puts little sister in the shade

LONDON (Reuters) - After nearly two hours of brutal powerhouse tennis on Centre Court on Saturday Serena Williams punched a backhand into the tramlines and older sister Venus had her fifth Wimbledon title in the bag.

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 disappointing 2002 and 2003 showdowns at Wimbledon, her 7-5 6-4 victory meant big sister had finally put little sister back in her place.

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

Serena at least had something to smile about later when she partnered Venus to the women's doubles title for the third time.

After the awkwardness of a few hours earlier, it was all high fives and smiles when they beat Samantha Stosur and Lisa Raymond 6-2 6-2, meaning Venus swept through the entire fortnight without dropping a set.

"My first job is big sister, I take that very seriously," Venus said on Centre Court following the singles watched by her mother and other sister but not father Richard who flew back to Florida after the semi-finals.

"I was pretty excited about that win because it was so close," Venus later told reporters.

"I'm definitely more in tune with my sister's feelings because one of us has to win and one of us has to lose. The celebration isn't as exciting because my sister just lost."

NO CHARITY

Looking out for little sister did not extend to charity on a tennis court. A 129 mph (208 kph) serve, the fastest ever by a woman at Wimbledon, was proof Venus was pulling no punches in the best of the singles finals they have contested here.

However, it was Serena who 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 2003 final.

With Venus stranded at the net, Serena advanced with menace to drill a ferocious backhand straight at her sister who responded with 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 the Compton district of Los Angeles went at it like street fighters.

Venus saved another break point at 1-3 and then got lucky with a net cord which produced 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 disgruntled Serena did break after a messy 14-minute game at 1-1 in the second but Venus had the wind in her sails and hit back immediately. The pair traded thunderbolts in a 23-stroke rally at 4-4 with a shrieking Venus now the aggressor and a subdued sister getting the runaround.

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

In the men's doubles final second seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic defeated Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett 7-6 6-7 6-3 6-3 to win their first Wimbledon doubles title.

(Editing by Clare Lovell)