Serena wrests trophy from sister Venus

Serena Williams served with ferocity and returned with determination to wrest the Wimbledon title from her older sister Venus 7-6, 6-3 on Saturday.

In a tight game that produced much better tennis than the Americans have shown in previous duels, Serena, 20, had the edge power and consistency, sending down more winners -- 20 to 14 -- than Venus, champion here in 2000 and 2001.

"It was now or never," Serena said afterwards. "I'm really excited. I'm going to keep hold of this trophy."

It was the first time since Maud and Lilian Watson in 1884 that sisters had contested the Wimbledon final.

French Open champion Serena took the initiative in the third game, breaking serve when her sister served a double fault and put two fine returns long.

But Venus, 22, who also holds the U.S. Open crown, replied immediately, hitting hard from the baseline to force Serena to on to the back foot. Serena started the game with an ace but finished it with a double fault for 2-2.

Serena, grunting with effort attacked again running her sister to the corners of the court and it was Venus's turn to serve a double fault to give her sister break point. Serena won the game with power-packed return that Venus put in the net to her evident disgust.

Serena extended her lead to 4-2, getting the edge in rallies of high intensity, but Venus's Wimbledon experience showed in the 10th game when she kept her cool as Serena served for the match, inviting her sister into errors to break back and serve to love for 6-5.

CONFIDENCE GROWING

Serena, growing in confidence, forced the tie-break and won it 7-4 on her second set point, slamming groundstrokes past her sister to wrap it up in 44 minutes.

The match was far more entertaining than their final showdowns at the U.S. Open last September or Roland Garros last month.

Both women earned and saved break points early in the second set, but Venus's serve was proving less penetrating than her sister's and she was run ragged to retrieve her sister's replies.

The pair traded breaks in the set but a double fault from Venus earned Serena a 5-3 lead and she served out the match on her first championship point with a huge delivery that Venus could only put in the net.

Both women smiled broadly and embraced after the match. They know each other's game well and said they had not discussed the match beforehand.

"She really played her best shots every time," Venus said.

"At least I know that sometimes I can look at the trophy," she added wistfully.