In a display of pure dominance, Serena Williams - led by her record-setting serve - strolled through the Wimbledon ladies' draw without dropping a set to earn her fourth title at the All England Club and 13th major title.
The top seed easily dismissed Vera Zvonareva in a manner similar to what she had shown towards her other unlucky opponents this tourney: huge serves, unreachable groundie winners and steely defense turned into blazing offense. She never faced a break point in this match due to these telling stats: ReRe had 66% first serve success, won 31 of 33 first serve points and pummeled 29 winners against 15 UEs. It was a wall of offense that the Russian was never able to break through, though the same couldn't be said for Bepa's serve which was broken 3 times in the match.
“My dream was able to come true," said ReRe after receiving her fourth Venus Rosewater Dish. “Everyone’s dream can come true if you just stick to it and work hard. This one is very special.” She also had kind words for opponent who recovered from a serious ankle injury sustained last season to make her first major final. “Everyone should give her a big round of applause. She defines what being a champion and never giving up means.”
The 21st seed played a pretty good match save for some unfortunate unforced errors but ReRe never allowed Bepa a chance to get comfortable out there. And when the 13-time Grand Slammer sinks her Hall of Fame teeth into a match, she can suffocate opponents with her powerfully intimidating play particularly in Grand Slam finals where she holds a 13-3 record. But Bepa showcased the best tennis of her career this week so hopefully she'll be feeling confident about her efforts and not get too distraught about the scoreline today.
Check out more images from ReRe's championship win below!
[Photo(s): Getty Images]
Nice post.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Serena on title number 13! I bet she'll take home the US Open title, too.
Hopefully, we'll see more of Zvonareva. She played an excellent Wimbledon.