Big sister back on top in Williams hierachy

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - After nearly two hours of brutal power tennis on Centre Court on Saturday Serena Williams punched a backhand into the tramlines to hand older sister Venus her fifth Wimbledon title.

The celebrations of 28-year-old Venus were muted. There was no jig of joy or girly giggles that had accompanied her victory here last year against French outsider Marion Bartoli but the contented smile said it all.

After losing to 26-year-old Serena in their last five meetings in grand slam finals, including the 2002 and 2003 showdowns at Wimbledon, her 7-5 6-4 victory meant big sister had finally put little sister in her place.

A brief embrace at the net was as emotional as it got before Venus set off to parade the Rosewater Dish around a sunlit court. The sisterly words of comfort would have been saved for the privacy of the locker room.

"My first job is big sister, I take that very seriously," Venus said on Centre Court, in front of her family minus father Richard who was back in Florida.

Looking out for little sister did not extend to her tennis. A 129 mph serve, the fastest by a woman at Wimbledon, was proof she was pulling no punches.

Serena began the final like a whirlwind, crunching two forehand winners of immense power and a sizzling crosscourt backhand to break serve in the opening game before holding her own serve to love.

Venus then slipped 0-30 down in her next service game but rallied to 40-30. The next point allayed any fears that the final would fizzle out into the lame, lop-sided affair witnessed when Serena beat Venus in the 2002 final.