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)