Venus Williams Wins the Wimbledon Championship

Within a cloud of all the hype about her sister Serena, Venus Williams of the United States came out of nowhere at Wimbledon this year.

Yesterday in the semifinals, she defeated a game Ana Ivanovic of Serbia while Marion Bartoli of France stunned the world by defeating Justine Henin of Belgium. (Didn't I say that France has an awful lot of very good tennis players and many who love to play on grass?) Today Venus won her fourth Wimbledon title by defeating Bartoli 6-4, 6-1.

Bartoli herself said it best - that Venus "is the best player on grass in the world."

Venus handled the psychological impact of some wild errors, showing her maturity at the age of 27. I think the accomplishment is greater this year than in the past. When the Williams sisters brought the heavy-hitting game to the women's tour, the other players weren't used to it and could simply be overpowered on a day when Williams was making few errors.

But the women are used to it now. The women's game is faster now. Venus had to play great all around tennis to win this tournament, and she did.


Congratulations!
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