Murray, Williams sisters prevail

Associated Press

wimbledon, england

Andy Murray stood with the Union Jack draped over his shoulders, an Olympic gold medal around his neck, flanked by the man he had just beaten, Roger Federer, and basking in the roar of the Centre Court crowd.

No wonder the often dour Scotsman was grinning.

Murray won one for the home team Sunday, beating Federer 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in the tennis final at Wimbledon.

The victory marked a career breakthrough for Murray. He has lost all four of his Grand Slam finals, three against Federer, including Wimbledon a month ago.

“It has been the best week of my tennis career by a mile,” Murray said. “I’ve had a lot of tough losses. This is the best way to come back from the Wimbledon final. I’ll never forget it.”

For Federer, the drubbing marked another Olympic disappointment. Playing in the games for the fourth time, he sought a victory to complete a career Golden Slam but settled for silver — his first singles medal.

“Don’t feel too bad for me,” Federer said. “I felt like I won my silver, I didn’t lose it. So I feel really happy.”

Murray swept nine consecutive games to take control, breaking Federer’s serve four times in a row, his inspired play a reflection of raucous crowd support. He erased all nine break points he faced.

“He never looked back,” Federer said. “His credit for getting in the lead and using the crowd to come through. He did an unbelievable job.”

women’s doubles

Serena Williams relishes her role as copycat little sister. Even if it takes her 12 years.

Now she has that Olympic double — just like Venus.

The overpowering American pair won the doubles title at the Olympics on Sunday, with Serena adding to the singles gold she won on Centre Court at Wimbledon a day earlier.

“Crazy,” Serena said. “I’m always copying her. I forgot that she did it in Sydney and I do it here. We’re the same doubles team, we just split this to singles, so it’s cool.”

The sisters beat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4 under the roof on a rainy afternoon at the All England Club. Venus — with her red, white and blue braids pulled back into a bun — closed the match on the very grass she has long loved with a backhand volley winner after the Czechs saved a pair of match points.

“We all talk about this, ’We have so many medals,’ but to be able to add to that, it’s like an unbelievable feeling,” Venus said. “You know that in that count, there you are. It feels amazing.”

On Saturday, Serena beat Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 for the singles gold. She joined Steffi Graf as the only women to complete the Golden Slam — winning the Olympics and the four majors.

When the Americans in the crowd at Centre Court broke into a chant of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” as the players left the court, the sisters pumped their fists, turned to wave, then slapped a high-five.

This was another commanding performance — as the sisters didn’t drop a set through their five matches in London.

With Bob and Mike Bryan taking the gold in men’s doubles Saturday, U.S. tennis made it three golds in two days.