Serena wins sister show at Wimbledon
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 07/7/2009
Yes, we live and exist during challenging, sometimes tough economic times, but it’s hard to ignore the personal satisfaction of the remarkable accomplishments of some of our athletes. Roger Federer is now number-one all-time in tennis after winning an incredible four-hour Wimbledon men’s tennis final over Andy Roddick.
It was Federer’s sixth Wimbledon title and his career 15th Grand Slam Championship. Federer now stands alone as the greatest men’s champion in tennis. He broke the 14-14 tie he had with the great Pete Sampras.
Federer is now the Jack Nicklaus of tennis.
Nicklaus won 18 Major Golf Championships and stands alone. Tiger Woods is obviously in hot pursuit with 14 career Majors. He has the opportunity to get closer with the British Open later this month and the August PGA Championship here in Minnesota at Hazeltine.
Federer has reached the finals at Wimbledon seven years in a row. That alone is unbelievable, but how about 20 Grand Slam finals or reaching the finals of a Grand Slam tournament — U.S. Open, French Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon, the four Grand Slam events — 16 of the last 17 times.
That, my friends, is dominance, dynasty, superiority.
It’s Serena over Venus
Serena Williams beat her sister Venus in the Wimbledon Women’s final 7-6-6-2 to win her third title at Wimbledon and her career 11th Grand Slam title.
“I didn’t think about Venus at all today; I just saw her as an opponent,” said Serena. It was the eighth time that Serena and Venus Williams have had to play each other in the finals with a Grand Slam singles title at stake.
Wow! Having to compete against your sibling? Your best friend, a loved one? Now that’s tough, and in many ways unfortunate. Consider this: Venus was trying to win her sixth Wimbledon title and third in a row. Only four players in history have won six or more Wimbledon singles titles.
When you win Wimbledon, you are the champion of the year in tennis. Period. Serena was simply better; she got her first serve in 96 percent of the time.
Venus has won seven Grand Slam titles; combined, the two sisters have won18. That’s three more than Federer and four more than Tiger Woods.
Serena has won three of the last four Grand Slam titles and is 11-3 in her career in Grand Slam finals. Venus is 7-7 in Grand Slam finals. Six of her losses have been to her younger sister Serena.
“There’s no easy to losing, especially when it’s close to the crown,” Said Venus. Now that’s what I mean by it being unfortunate.
Serena and Venus have both reached the finals of a Grand Slam championship 14 times; that’s 28 times combined, so the Williams are 18-6 combined. History has to be fair in recognizing how these two great players have dominated this elite sport.
In their careers, the sisters have played each other head-to-head 21 times. Serena now leads 11-10. Legendary champion Margaret Court leads all women in Major singles titles with 24.
We’re talking about Grand Slam titles — Majors. When you win Major Championships, you get all the glory and fame that goes with them. Venus and Serena teamed up to win their ninth Women’s Doubles Grand Slam title and their fourth at Wimbledon.
“Nothing like winning a title with your sister,” said Serena.
Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:20 am, and on WDGY-AM 740 Monday & Saturday mornings at 7:50 am and Fridays at 3:50 pm; he also commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). Larry welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-recorder.com, or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com .
