D4A6ABE8-AE9A-440A-B1CF-207CAAD1926E
By Richard Pagliaro
© Fred Mullane and Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA
(July 3, 2010) Air space above Centre Court wasn't restricted to the retractable roof.
Serena Williams was in full flight aiming to continue her ascent into the rare air of tennis history.
Williams soared skyward to slam successive overheads serving as exuberant exclamation points to punctuate an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 conquest of Vera Zvonareva in today's Wimbledon final.
The World No. 1 landed on the game's most prestigious patch of grass in capturing her 13th career Grand Slam championship, including her fourth Wimbledon crown.
Based on the bounce in her step and the resounding rocket serve she launched in ripping a Wimbledon women's record 89 aces during this fortnight (sister Venus was second with 30 aces), barring injury it's likely Williams will continue her flight through the championship stratosphere.
Forget about scanning draw sheets to search for Williams' most worthy opponents. You have to scour the record books to find comparable competition for a woman who looks driven to master 20 or more majors.
Successfully defending her Wimbledon crown to raise the Rosewater Dish for the fourth time, Williams' real rivals are the game's greatest champions, including Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, who watched the final from the royal box. Williams' 13th major title moves her one ahead of King for sixth place on the all-time list behind Margaret Court (24), Steffi Graf (22), Helen Wills Moody (19) and Chris Evert and Navratilova (18 apiece).
"This one is very special," Williams said. "This is number 13 for me and it's just amazing to be among such great pople and to be sixth on the all-time list is great. (Billie Jean) told me to pass her and so that's really inspiring. Honestly, I just wanted to get to 13 — it's my lucky number."
The most convincing closer of this generation, raised her record in Grand Slam finals to an eye-popping 13-3. The Williams sisters continue to guard the Venus Rosewater Dish like a family heirloom: Serena and five-time champion Venus have combined to claim nine of the last 11 Wimbledon championships.
An inferno of intensity fueled Williams from the moment she stepped onto Centre Court and she imposed her will on the 67-minute match by playing as if she was shooting for a shutout.
She nearly did just that on serve.
The top-seeded Williams pitched a near shutout on first serve, slamming nine aces and winning 31 of 33 first-serve points. Williams, who did not face a break point of the match, permitted just three points on serve in the second set.
"It is very hard to return her serve," Zvonareva said. "I was trying my best just to return. It is not enough just to put it back, you got to be able to put it somewhere so you don't get killed on the second shot."
Contesting her first career major final, the 21st-seeded Russian came out trying to trade baseline blasts with Williams. Zvonareva and partner Elena Vesnina upset the Williams sisters in the doubles quarterfinals in dealing the defending champions their first loss of the season, but Moscow native who has worked so hard to come from from ankle surgery and tame her tendency to implode in emotional meltdowns simply lacked the firepower to stay with the explosive Williams.
One of the longest exchanges of the opening set concluded with Zvonareva narrowly missing an inside-out forehand wide to fall into a 0-30 hole. She came right back ripping a forehand winner down the line for 30-all. Williams hit a deep return and Zvonareva committed her third forehand error of the game to face break point.
Confining her gaze to the service box, she saved the break point with a slice serve and forehand winner, followed with an ace and held for 3-all when Williams' forehand found the net. That would be Zvonareva's final stand in the first set.
Crunching a series of first serves, Williams belted a backhand swing volley to hold at 15 for 4-3.
Building a 40-15 lead, Zvonareva saw both her advantage — and the set — slip away in the eighth game. Zvonareva hit her first double fault of the match to drop to deuce. She saved one break point when Williams mis-timed an 82 mph second serve, hit a backhand into the net then bounced her Wilson racquet off the lawn in disgust.
Williams' audacious arsenal of offensive weapons makes her the most imposing player in women's tennis, but her defensive brilliance earned her the break. Racing to her right, Williams was off the doubles alley by the time she completed her ripping running forehand pass to break for 5-3.
Serving for the set, Williams showed some nerves in double faulting and squandering two set points. She sliced a slithering serve out wide and knocked off an overhead winner for a third set point. When Zvonareva, whose tempestuous forehand let her down in the sixth and eighth games, strayed wide of the sideline, Williams collected the first set on the strength of 16 winners compared to four for Zvonareva.
"I'm a little bit disappointed at the moment, but I think I have achieved a lot in this past week," said Zvonareva, the third Russian woman to reach the Wimbledon singles final. "I played some good tennis. Serena was just better today and she didn't allow me to show my best. She deserved it."
Forehand failings haunted Zvonareva and Williams wisely continued to direct big blasts toward that wing. Zvonareva lined a forehand into the middle of the net to drop serve in the opening game of the second set and slammed to the court in rage.
Side-stepping quickly to her left Williams jabbed a backhand volley winner into the open court to consolidate for 2-0.
Cruising through her service games, Williams deposited a forehand swing volley into the open court to hold at 15 for 3-1.
Squealing in frustration after tapping another tight forehand into the net, Zvonareva could not find the service box on a second serve and her double fault put her in a 1-4 hole.
On championship point, Williams attacked thumped down the declarative forehand to close a championship she won without surrendering a set. Serena tossed her Wilson racquet aside and turned the lawn into a tennis trampoline in going airborbne with outstretched arms.
Williams looked like a woman hugging the rare air she occupies. No longer running from applying her gifts for the game, Serena has found serenity producing her best tennis on the game's grandest stages and spoke with the with the exuberance of a champion who has found a second career wind and has more flight plans to pursue.
"I felt a little jumpy in the first week. I was winning easy, but I felt jumpy mentally," Williams said. "I was just calm the whole time. Hey, I'm getting a second wind, I guess."