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By Peter Higgs
Victory: Serena Williams celebrates match pointSerena Williams officially became the sixth greatest woman tennis player of all time yesterday and was immediately tipped to go even higher.
'Hey, Billie, I got you,' said the 28-year-old champion to the watching Billie Jean King as her fourth Wimbledon crown took her total of Grand Slams singles titles to 13, one more than her fellow American, who reigned supreme in the Sixties and Seventies.
Such was Williams's domination of the past fortnight, in which she added her name to list of those who have taken the title without dropping a single set, that her 6-3, 6-2 demolition of Vera Zvonareva in 66 minutes left past champions predicting her reign can continue indefinitely.
Martina Navratilova, rated the greatest Wimbledon champion of the modern era, accepts her position alongside Chris Evert as the equal fourth best Grand Slam singles winner with 18 titles is under threat. 'The rate she going, she can catch me and Chris,' said Navratilova.
'Serena is head and shoulders above the rest and she will go on for years. The young guns haven't come through, while the old guard of Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Venus Williams just aren't quite up to it.'
Power play: Serena Williams brushed Vera Zvonareva aside to capture her fourth Wimbledon crownKing, 66, had urged her compatriot to pass her total of 12 Grand Slam singles titles after Williams reached that figure at this year's Australian Open.
'It seems like Serena has made a total commitment to break records,' said King, who watched yesterday from the Royal Box. 'She's had her dodgy patches but she kept fighting and showed she had a will to win.'
The champion herself was keen to play down her prospects. Criticised a few years ago for placing too much emphasis on her interests outside tennis and failing to make the most of her talent, she insisted she would still go her own way.
'Today was special because I got to 13 and went past Billie Jean's total,' said Serena.
'But I don't spend my life thinking how many I can win. I'm happy to have won 13 but who knows what tomorrow will bring? I still love other things outside tennis. I would love to be able to open more schools in Africa and I don't want to be remembered as Serena Williams, the tennis player, but to be remembered for the things that tennis enabled me to do. Today I played well but I was nervous. It's not easy when everyone expects you to play well.'
Gotcha: Serena clutches the Venus Rosewater DishNavratilova hailed the Williams serve as the greatest of all time in the women's game, a claim no one can dispute after she extended her record number of aces to 89, with nine more against Zvonareva, which beat the record she set last year of 72. 'I don't know what it is about Wimbledon,' she said. 'I just start serving well.'
The final was more of an occasion than a match. Zvonareva was just delighted to be there, having overcome serious injuries to become the third Russian woman to reach a Wimbledon final. The 25-year-old from Moscow simply did not have the weapons to cause an upset.
For seven games, the inevitable was on hold as Zvonareva, who with partner Elena Vesnina had beaten the Williams sisters in the doubles, held her nerve and won her service games.
But her luck ran out in the eighth, when Williams received the benefit of a net cord to go to break-point and stormed ahead at the end of a thrilling rally with a forehand winner down the line.
Out of reach: But Vera Zvonareva can be proud of her efforts at SW19Such was the domination of the Williams serve, which did not yield a break-point, that this moment decided the 36-minute opening set.
And when she broke in the opening game of the second set, the scoreline rather than the result was the only issue in doubt.
The crowd did their best to rouse the Russian but she admitted the pressure of trying to push Williams into mistakes induced errors of her own.
'You have to take risks against Serena,' said Zvonareva. 'She is simply better and you go for so much more and then you make mistakes.'
Lovely day for it: Centre Court shone in the sublime sunshine as Serena Williams dismantled her opponent 6-3, 6-2 source:dailymail [endtext]
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