No doubt about it

Serena Williams wins women’s title in a breeze

Associated Press

WIMBLEDON, England

Getting set to accept her latest Wimbledon trophy, Serena Williams lifted both arms and held aloft 10 fingers. Then, raising only her right hand, she wiggled three more fingers, bringing the total count to 13.

That’s how many Grand Slam singles titles Williams owns as of Saturday.

With a superb serve that had other greats of the game gushing, and plenty of offense and defense to back it up, the No. 1-ranked Williams overwhelmed No. 21 Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the final to win her fourth Wimbledon title and, yes, 13th major tournament overall.

That’s the most among active women and gives Williams sole possession of sixth place on the all-time list, breaking a tie with her former U.S. Fed Cup captain, Billie Jean King.

She’s won five of the last eight Grand Slam tournaments, including two in a row at Wimbledon, where she also was champion in 2002-03. Williams and her older sister Venus have won nine of the past 11 titles at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.

After 21 minutes Saturday, they were tied at 3-all. Then Williams reeled off eight of the next nine games to seize complete control.

Margaret Smith Court leads the way with 24 major titles, followed by Steffi Graf with 22, Helen Wills Moody with 19, and Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert with 18 apiece.

So where does Williams rank among the best women’s tennis players through the years?

“Top five,” answered Navratilova, without a moment’s hesitation.

Williams pounded serves at up to 122 mph and hit nine aces Saturday, taking her tournament total to a Wimbledon-record 89, 17 more than the mark she established last year. It’s not simply about speed; Williams varies angles, spins, spots.

“She always changes it,” Zvonareva said.

Williams never faced a break point and won 31 of 33 points when her first serve went in. She double-faulted three times, but followed each of the first two with an ace. .

As the match became increasingly lopsided, Zvonareva began to unravel. When she double-faulted to fall behind 4-1, she angrily smacked a ball before heading to the sideline. In the next game, Zvonareva slapped her left thigh with a palm and whacked her right thigh with her racket.

After Williams ended the match with an overhead, Zvonareva plopped down in her chair and wiped away tears with her towel.