Wimbledon's woman of the decade takes five ... titles, that is
Serena is not a good loser. Even when the opponent is Venus.
"It's definitely not any easier," Serena said of losing to Venus. "I think it's harder."
Wasn't she at all happy for Venus?
"Yeah," said Serena, unconvincingly, "of course."
Serena slugged away, Venus served away, aiming at Serena's body, a tactic Serena said she knew Venus would use -- they've been practicing together for years -- but couldn't halt.
"She lifted the level of her game," said Serena, "and I should have lifted the level of mine. Instead, I think mine went down."
Instead, Venus Williams wins a second consecutive Wimbledon, which hasn't been done on the women's side since, well, Serena in 2002 and 2003. Yes, those Williams ladies are irrepressible.
They're also virtually the only Americans, men or women, who can play singles. The Bryan twins, Mike and Bob, made it to the men's doubles semifinals, but individually the U.S. doesn't have much. Except Venus and Serena.
And while some in tennis bristle when they end up facing each other in a final, having each swept through six opponents without the loss of a set, as happened this Wimbledon, it has to make some kid in the United States believe he or she can make the grade.
Only three American-born players -- Pete Sampras with seven championships, Helen Wills Moody with eight and Billie Jean King with six -- have ever won more Wimbledon singles crowns than Venus. Navratilova had nine and was a U.S. citizen, but she was born in what then was Czechoslovakia.
"That would be the ultimate," Venus said when someone wondered about chasing Navratilova's nine. "That's not easy. Her career spanned three decades, so I'm not sure I have that much time. If I did, I think I definitely would dream of that."
She doesn't have to dream about being the most dominant women's player at Wimbledon this decade. She already is.
"Five titles," she chirped. "Five titles. That's the first thing that popped into my head when (she won). Oh my God, it's five. Wow."
Wow, indeed.
