LONDON, England – World No.1 Serena Williams kept adding to her grand legacy in London, defeating Vera Zvonareva in straight sets for her fourth Wimbledon crown and 13th overall Grand Slam title.
Williams, the No.1 seed, and Zvonareva, No.21, went toe-to-toe from the baseline in the first six games of the match, but from 3-all Williams’ big stage experience really began to shine, as she took the power level up a notch – particularly on her serve and crosscourt backhand – and she took a 6-3 first set.
After winning the first set at a major Williams was 174-3, and after winning the first set in major finals she was 10-0 – the 28-year-old American’s record was phenomenal in the situation and that trend continued, as she made it 175-3 and 11-0 with a 63 62 victory, serving it out at love and ending it with a big smash.
Williams tied Billie Jean King for fourth most Wimbledons in the Open Era (Martina Navratilova nine, Steffi Graf seven and Venus Williams five). She passes King for sixth most overall majors in the Open Era (Margaret Court 24, Graf 22, Helen Wills Moody 19 and Navratilova and Chris Evert 18 each).
“This one’s very special. Hey Billie, I got you,” Williams said in the on-court interview with Sue Barker. “I want to congratulate Vera. She played amazing here. She’s been through so much in the last year. Everyone should give her a round of applause… she defines what a champion and never giving up means.”
Williams’ serving throughout the tournament was a centerpiece of her success. She was out-acing even the best men’s players in the world (going into the semifinals she had over 1.6 aces per service game while none of the men’s semifinalists even had 1) and she smashed the women’s tournament ace record of 72 (which she set herself last year), finishing with 89 after the final.
“I’ve honestly never served this well,” Williams added. “Whenever I come on this grass, on this amazing Centre Court, I start serving well. I want to keep it up.”
This was Williams’ sixth career Wimbledon final. She is now 4-2 in those, winning in 2002, 2003, 2009 and 2010, and finishing runner-up in 2004 (losing to Maria Sharapova) and 2008 (losing to Venus Williams).
How far is Williams planning to go? She was asked in press: “I love my dogs; I love my family; I love going to the movies; I love reading; I love going shopping. I would love to open more schools in Africa or in the United States, and I would love to help people. I would like to be remembered like, ‘She was a tennis player, but she really did a lot to inspire and help other people.’ That’s what I think about – not about Serena Williams won X amount of Grand Slams.
Zvonareva was playing in her first Grand Slam final. It was the 30th Grand Slam tournament she has played – the fourth-longest wait for a first final after Nathalie Tauziat (42), Francesca Schiavone (39) and Zina Garrison (34).
“I could have done better today, but Serena played really well. She didn’t give me chances to get into the match,” Zvonareva said after the match. “I’m such a perfectionist I wouldn’t consider this a fabulous result, and I feel like I could have done better, but I was able to come through a lot of difficult matches for the past two weeks, and it gives me more confidence moving forward.”