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Wimbledon Finals: Venus and Serena Sweep, Federer wins epic match against Roddick
by Nadya Vlassoff
 The
final two days of Wimbledon at the All-England
Club in London had plenty of action for tennis
fans of all ages. Saturday’s headline match saw
sisters Venus and Serena Williams battle it out
for the Wimbledon women’s singles title in a match
that once again had fans curious to see which
sibling would come out on top. Both women had
been absolutely dominating throughout the tournament
except for Serena’s near scare in the semi-finals
when she took on Elena Dementieva and was pushed
to three sets. Saturday afternoon, however, proved
to be a different story as Venus and Serena did
what they do best, which was to put on a show
for the ages.
The first set was close, with Venus unleashing a barrage of big serves and a booming forehands. It was Serena, though, that was quick to return, forcing Venus scramble at the baseline, with heavy offensive strikes while managing her defensive play. At 6-all, the tiebreak was the decisive shift in momentum for Serena who dominated with rocket-like serves that sent grass flying off the court. On the winning point, Serena tossed a lob that Venus could only look at and grimace as it landed inside the line. It was the lift Serena needed to crush her sister’s dreams of winning a third consecutive Wimbledon title.
 Serena
ran away with the second set, taking advantage
of Venus’s shaky nerves and wobbling resolve
after her sister lost the tiebreak. Points were
shorter than usual in an all-Williams match
as Serena hit for the corners and was able to
beat Venus at the net for the all-important
edge, which was the difference in the second
set when Venus held on to save 3 match points.
But Serena, unrelenting, nailed a return that
nearly shaved fluff off the ball as Venus hit
a backhand into the net to end the match. Serena
fell to her knees in celebration but got up
quickly to congratulate her biggest competition
and hero.
Serena now holds a the edge over Venus in Grand Slam final, with 11 grand slam titles to her name and two of them coming in this year alone. If anyone had doubted Venus or Serena in previous years, The Williams sisters proved that they still dominate the women’s game when it matters the most. Venus shook off the loss for the women’s doubles final with Serena where the sisters defeated Samantha Stousr and Rennae Stubbs 7-6, 6-4. The Serena sweep proved Williams is still at the top of her game having also won both the singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open earlier in the year.
 Sunday’s
gentlemen’s final had another familiar match-up
as Roger Federer took his place on the court
across from Andy Roddick, the man Federer beat
in the finals at Wimbledon in ’04 and ’05. There
was no greater stage for Federer to play for
his record-setting 15th Grand Slam title and
Roddick made it a thriller to the very end.
It was Andy Roddick who took the opening set,
breaking Federer in the 11th game to take it
7-5. The second set was equally tight and went
to a tiebreak that Roddick should have won since
he led 5-1. But Roger Federer reeled off 6 straight
points that were punctuated by his dominant
service game as Roddick shanked a textbook backhand
volley that would have won him the second set.
The third set went to Federer after another
tiebreak but Roddick refused to go down without
a fight and took the fourth set 6-3 after breaking
Federer by matching serves.
The fifth and final set stood on its own, breaking records for the most games played ever in a Wimbledon final. The final tally saw 30 games, with Federer winning 16 and Roddick taking 14. Both Federer and Roddick were steadfast in their service games in a match where few of the games went to deuce. Federer had a few close calls and was down on several break points but managed to serve himself out of trouble. Roddick continued to pressure with his backhand, which kept him in the games via pinpoint accuracy for down the line winners, a shot that Roddick has worked on extensively over the past 6 months.
 Finally,
with Roddick serving to level the set at 15-all,
Andy was unable to save match point and Federer
hit a deep return that Roddick hit forehand
long to give Federer game, set, match and Roger’s
15th grand slam title. Roger Federer now stands
alone at the top of the ATP records with the
most Grand Slam titles and is one title away
from tying Pete Sampras with 7 Wimbledon titles.
Rounding out the doubles results were Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic who repeated as the men’s champions when they beat Mike and Bob Bryan in 4 tight sets. It came down to a battle of serves over nerves as Nestor and Zimonjic held firm in 3 tiebreaks to cement their victory. The mixed doubles title went to Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Mark Knowles who beat Leander Pais and Cara Black in straight sets.
With 3 of the 4 Grand Slam tournaments out of the way, the ATP and WTA head back to North America where the second half of the hardcourt season awaits. The U.S. Open is the final Slam of the season and both Serena Williams and Roger Federer will be looking to continue their dominance over the rest of the field. However, if Rafael Nadal can return in healthy form then there may be one or more surprises in store in the next six weeks.
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