Serena reigns as Wimbledon’s queen

LONDON: Defending champion Serena Williams won her fourth women’s singles title at Wimbledon with a crushing 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian 21st-seed Vera Zvonareva in the final. Williams displayed all her trademark power and poise to overwhelm Zvonareva and clinch the 13th Grand Slam crown of her career.

The top seed did not drop a set en route to the final but even that impressive statistic paled in comparison to her record total of 80 aces. She increased that total on the second point of the match as she took the opening game to love.

Zvonareva then made a brave effort to respond with some clever ground-strokes, but the pressure of facing such constant controlled aggression gradually began to reveal cracks in her game. After keeping Williams at bay for the first seven games, Zvonareva found it impossible to stem the tide any longer.

Serena could not take her first break point in the fifth game. But she made no mistake when another came her way at 4-3 and drilled a forehand winner before celebrating the break on one knee. That gave Serena the chance to serve for the set and she did just that with ruthless efficiency.

The American broke again in the first game of the second set, shattering Zvonareva’s morale, paving way for Serena who broke again for a 4-1 lead before serving out yet another Wimbledon triumph in just one hour and seven minutes.

Unconquerable

The 28-year-old’s triumph means the Venus Rosewater Dish awarded to the women’s champion was held aloft by  one of the Williams  sisters for the ninth time in 11 years.

Serena, who pocketed £1 million in prize money, has been by far the most impressive performer in the women’s event this year and is now just one Wimbledon title behind Venus.

Zvonareva goes down with respect

Although Zvonareva was unable to make any impact in her first Grand Slam final, the Russian can at least take consolation from seeing her ranking rise into the top 10 in the world. Zvonareva, the second lowest ranked player ever to appear in the women’s final, has been dogged by doubts about her temperament for years after crumbling under pressure in big matches. But the 25-year-old’s talent has never been in doubt and she has been a more confident, mature player over the last fortnight.

She knocked out three seeds on her way to the final, with fourth-seed Jelana Jankovic and US Open champion Kim Clijsters among her scalps.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2010.