Venus Rises to Claim Fifth Title

Thank goodness they were only rubber bullets. The Williams sisters bombarded each other with such ferocity that anything more solid might have caused lasting damage. Defending champion Venus won – to claim the Wimbledon title for a fifth time – principally because she controlled her power just that little bit better in a buffeting wind, which did its best but not enough to spoil an ­excellent match.

Venus started slowly, winning only one of the first 11 points, but she showed far greater patience in the difficult conditions, regularly being prepared to pull out of serves until the breeze died, and her more disciplined approach was justly rewarded as she won 7-5 6-4. As ever, her serve, too, was a potent weapon. One delivery of 129mph broke her Wimbledon record by 2mph (and equaled her own Tour record in main-draw matches).

The siblings seemed determined to dispel any lingering doubts that they would give their all, even though Elena Dementieva, the Russian player who on Thursday raised the possibility that they might not, protested she had been misunderstood. For 111 minutes, it really was hard to believe Serena's assertion that Venus is 'the ultimate bigger sister, almost like a mom'. From the moment the pre-match niceties were dispensed with to the instant Serena dumped a backhand into the tramlines on Venus' second match point, they wore what Americans call their game faces – with all the usual accompaniments: growls, snarls, squeals and fist pumps.

Only when the hostilities were over did they revert to being the bosom buddies who share a home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Venus, who at 28 is 15 months the senior, forsook her normal victory jig and ran forward to embrace her sister at the net and share her moment of joy. 'I can't believe it's five titles,' she told the crowd, 'because against Serena five seemed so far away from that first point. She played awesome. It was really a task to beat her.'

The tangible rewards of success were presented with patrician stolidness by the Duke of Kent: the 122-year-old Venus Rosewater Dish for Venus (no relation), a smaller silver salver for Serena; a check for £750,000 for Venus, a check for £375,000 for Serena.

Whatever words of congratulations the Duke passed on were richly deserved. Critics have diminished their success by implying they have somehow managed it without fully engaging in the sport and that their real interests lie elsewhere. This overlooks the commitment required to turn back fiercely competitive opposition, particularly all those eastern Europeans with their – and their parents' – hunger for success.

It also disregards the setbacks they have overcome that would have ended many careers: the fate of their older half-sister Yetunde, whose death as the entirely innocent victim of a gangland shooting in Los Angeles in 2003 deeply affected them, and a series of serious injuries.

Coming back to meet again in a grand-slam final after a five-year pause – before which they went head to head in six title matches in less than 24 months – is quite remarkable. Serena, incidentally, now leads the finals series 5-2 and they are level 8-8 in their overall meetings (if you disregard Serena's walkover win in Indian Wells in 2001).

While their mother, Oracene, watched over the sisters from the stands, their father, Richard, had flown home, having said the tension was all too much for him. His daughters' tennis careers have been the major project in his life since they were small. He said before heading for the airport on Friday that, having treated the two of them even-handedly, he was intrigued by how different they had turned out, both as people and players. 'When Venus is playing, you never know whether she is winning or losing,' he says. 'She just never lets nothing bother her.' Serena, on the other hand, 'could throw the racket down and break it up. She gets to talking to herself.'

This was the key to yesterday's match. Venus methodically worked her way back into the first set after trailing 3-1 and 4-2 and did the same in the second after Serena stole the lead by converting her ­seventh break point in the third game.

Extrapolating anything from the Williamses' success over the past fortnight is unwise, beyond the fact that they are extremely formidable grass-court players. They were almost certainly assisted in making it to the final by none of the top three seeds – Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova – playing in a grass event in the two weeks after the French Open (a mistake made by none of the top three men's seeds). All right, the Williamses did not play either but they have a deeper reservoir of experience on the surface than anyone. The other three needed at least one warm-up event for reacquaintance and recalibration.

Over the next 12 months we will find out whether the sisters can push out on a broader front and re-establish a year-round presence right at the top of the rankings. After the sudden and dramatic retirement of Justine Henin, who surprised everyone by quitting in May at the height of her powers, and Kim Clijsters, the second Belgian who stopped playing a year earlier to marry and start a family – and the decline of Amélie Mauresmo – a new order has yet properly to emerge.

Ivanovic, the new number one, played well to win in Paris but has plenty of room to improve a game that packs a punch but, not yet, a great deal else; her fellow Serb Jankovic has to find herself a decent serve (and, perhaps, give up studying for a degree in media, economics and business studies); and Sharapova has health issues, including a dodgy shoulder and a susceptibility to becoming ­run-down.