Venus, Angie triumphant at Wimbledon
Venus, Angie triumphant at Wimbledon
LONDON (Agencies): Defending champion Venus Williams
overpowered Belgian teenager Justine Henin to win the Wimbledon
women's title 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 on Sunday.
In the junior event, Indonesian Angelique Widjaja crafted a
history to claim herself as the first for the country to win the
Wimbledon junior after struggling to beat Dinara Safina of
Russia, Marat Safin's younger sister, 6-4, 0-6, 7-5.
"This year was a lot more difficult to win. Last year I was
like a deer in the headlights, I just kept going," Williams said,
as quoted by Reuters. "This year I am so happy."
The American second seed raced away with the opening set in 20
minutes as the slightly-built Henin, the first Belgian to reach a
Wimbledon singles final, struggled to deal with Williams's
strength, particularly on her serve.
After that early pummeling, Henin held her own at the start of
the second set and following a short rain break with the score at
3-2, the 19-year-old allowed Williams just one further game,
winning the set 6-3 to square the match.
But Williams upped her pace a notch in the final set and blew
the eighth seed away.
Williams congratulated Henin for putting up a tough battle.
"She's going to be back - she's a great player," the American
said.
"I've been there... your first Grand Slam final. Justine did
really well - I didn't even win a set in mine."
It was the first time a deciding set has been won 6-0 since
1960 when Maria Bueno beat Sandra Reynolds.
Williams, 21, is the first women's champion to defend her
title since Steffi Graf in 1996.
"She was the best player, she played better than me today,"
Henin said. "I tried to put a little bit more pressure on her in
the second set, but in the third set she was stronger."
The second seed Williams started the match tentatively. She
made no mistake, crunching away an ace to take the opener in just
20 minutes.
Henin began to hold her own in the second set, powering
perfectly-timed groundstrokes deep into the court, but still
Williams's rocket serves were causing big problems.
She managed to take the second set.
But the American did not allow Henin a look in during the
third set, winning it to love with a 189.9km per hour thunderous
delivery.
She then broke for a second time as Henin's hopes faded and
held easily for a 5-0 final set lead.
Henin had nothing left and was broken for the title when she
screwed a backhand into the net after 68 minutes.
Indonesian 16-year-old Angelique, nicknamed Angie, fought hard
in the first set, being down 2-3 on Saturday when the match was
delayed due to a downpour.
It turned out to be a beautiful Sunday as she managed to
bounce back in the first set to win 6-4.
"I was down 2-3 on Saturday but the rain stopped our match.
Today, I broke Dinara's service to tie 3-3 and led 4-3, but
Dinara managed to equal 4-4. I played an attacking game to win
the first set 6-4," she told The Jakarta Post from London by
phone.
"In the second set, I lost my concentration while Dinara
played extremely well to easily win 6-0. In the third set I
fought back aggressively to win it.
"The key to my success is God's will and my aggressive play."
Angie, ranked eighth by the International Tennis Federation,
attributed her success to the moral support from the few
Indonesian spectators present, and said she was not made nervous
by the local crowd.
Looking back to her victory in Wimbledon, Angie said she had
only expected to reach the quarterfinals as she had to bow out in
the second round at the Roland Garros in May and June.
"It is a great achievement. I'm really proud of it. I'm glad
to be able to pay back my parents something special. They have
struggled to finance my overseas tournament which helped me to be
here today," said Angie, who is ranked at 613 by the World Tennis
Association. (ivy)