Serena Williams can stomach her sister's name emblazoned all over the singles trophy, she even shrugged off getting the smaller room in their rented house, but she put her foot down on Saturday to snatch the Wimbledon title. Her emphatic 7-6, 6-2 victory over 29-year-old Venus to capture an 11th Grand Slam singles title on US Independence Day will not make any classic Wimbledon compilation DVDs, but it was razor-sharp, ruthless and too hot for her elder sibling. Venus strolled out on a sunlit Center Court having not dropped a set at the grasscourt Grand Slam since the third round in 2007, and poised to complete a hat trick of women's singles titles last achieved by Steffi Graf in 1993. However, she was forced to play second fiddle in their 21st career meeting, eight of which have been in Grand Slam finals, as Serena gave her the runaround to hold aloft the Venus Rosewater Dish for a third time, two fewer than her sister. “I didn't think about Venus at all today. I just saw her as an opponent,” said Serena. It is unlikely that Swiss magician Roger Federer will turn up so confident on Sunday should he beat American Andy Roddick in the men's singles final and claim a record 15th Grand Slam title – one more than Pete Sampras. Serena's next major title, if and when it comes, would draw her level with fellow American Billie Jean King, who watched from the Royal Box, in sixth place in the list of all-time women's Grand Slam singles winners. “It's unbelievable,” said the 27-year-old who now holds three of the four Slams. “I'm looking at the next goal of someone like Billie Jean King, who is completely my hero. To get to her level and have 12 would be even better.” Venus lags behind Serena with seven Grand Slam titles but would have had an awful lot more if her sister had not followed her on to the tennis courts 20 odd years ago. “It's a wonderful achievement,” she said of her sister's glittering haul. “She's played so well so many times. You know, a lot of the times actually at my expense.” The siblings' previous three clashes in the Wimbledon final have always produced a rather awkward, slightly detached atmosphere inside Center Court with spectators seemingly unable to decide who to cheer. It was no different this time. Unlike Serena's epic against Russia's Elena Dementieva on Thursday, when she saved a match point before prevailing in the longest women's semifinal at Wimbledon, there was very little ebb and flow, few rallies that really stood out. The bish-bash-boom nature of the contest was almost entirely without subtlety although the power exchanges between the finalists did have a beauty of their own. “I'm a shover. Some people push, but I shove,” Venus responded to one question about her tactics. “That's my mentality. I have to just hit, and I can't help it. It's just hard to change my mind.” With the serve dominating, there were few chances for either to break. Serena did trail 15-40 in the eighth game but a service winner and a Venus forehand which landed beyond the dusty baseline averted the danger. Serena pounced in the tiebreak, eking out a 6-2 lead. Venus saved the first after Hawkeye showed a Serena forehand had landed out but on the next point she was forced to move forward to deal with a netcord and Serena arced a perfect topspin lob over her head. It seemed to crush the resolve of the older sibling and Serena took total control when a Venus double fault gifted her the first service break of the match in the sixth game. Serena and Venus later in the evening completed their Wimbledon dominance when they won the women's doubles title to clinch a ninth Grand Slam crown as a team. The American fourth seeds defeated Australian third seeds Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 to defend the title they won last year and also claim a fourth Wimbledon doubles trophy. Nestor, Zimonjic shine Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic ensured Wimbledon was not all about the United States on Saturday with a tense doubles victory over Americans Bob and Mike Bryan. In a match sandwiched between the singles and women's doubles finals featuring sisters Venus and Serena Williams, Canada's Nestor and Serbian Zimonjic beat the top seeded Bryan brothers 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 to retain the men's doubles title. “It is an amazing feeling to come again to defend the title and to go home undefeated with Danny here at SW19,” Zimonjic said shortly after the match. “We came together to play as a team because we thought we had better chance of winning Grand Slams. We won two already, back-to-back Wimbledons is unbelievable,” Nestor, who reunited with Zimonjic in 2008 after first playing in 2001, added. Girls' title Thailand's Noppawan Lertcheewakarn won the Wimbledon girls' singles title also Saturday when she defeated French top seed Kristina Mladenovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. The 17-year-old from Chiang Mai had finished runner-up to Britain's Laura Robson in the 2008 final, but she went one better this time round recovering from a set down to beat the French Open champion. It was Noppawan's first major title.
