Venus Williams has admitted that defending her Wimbledon title against Belgian teenager Justine Henin was harder than she expected. The 21-year-old American won 6-1 3-6 6-0 in the final, but Henin pushed her hard despite what the scoreline suggests. "This year it was a lot harder," said Williams.
"I've been in her position before and I didn't even win a set in my first Grand Slam final (the 1997 US Open final). She's going to be back. I just want to say congratulations. She is a very good player, Justine is only 19," said Williams.
Williams' celebrations were more reserved than last year when he skipped joyously around the court and her father Richard danced on the roof of a television commentary box. "I couldn't leap because it was raining and I didn't want to fall," she explained.
Henin promised: "I will come back next year: maybe to win this title. I was (ranked) 100 in the world a year ago and now I will be number five. I never imagined that. "
Many feared a whitewash after the first set, which Williams breezed through the first set 6-1 with breaks in the fourth and sixth games. However, Williams did not have it all her own way and was often outplayed in the second set. Henin grabbed the crucial break in the eighth game of the match when Williams shunted a backhand into the net, and coolly served out to level the match, taking the set 3-6.
As she had done in her semi-final against Lindsay Davenport, Williams regrouped and raised the momentum of her game in the third set. After holding her first service game to love, she took advantage of her third break point to break Henin and went 3-0 up. Williams was being more precise with her powerful shots and Henin had no answer. Williams seized the match-winning double-break to go 5-0 up and with some spits of rain just beginning, Henin went 15-40 on her own serve to give Williams two Championship points. The Belgian saved the first but mis-hit a backhand on her second as Williams retained her title 6-1 3-6 6-0.
Filed by Greg McKevitt
