Williams Sisters Take Wimbledon Doubles Title
July 9 -- — When she beat her little sister on Centre Court in the semi-finals Venus Williams first words were “let’s get out of here.” But when the two completed a historic doubles victory they were able to relish the spotlight together and lingered on Centre Court in front of an ecstatic crowd.
Just two days after winning the women’s singles championship, Venus teamed with sister Serena to capture the women’s doubles crown, beating Ai Sugiyama and Julie Halard-Decugis 6-3, 6-2. It’s the first time in history that sisters have won the Wimbledon doubles title. The 70-minute victory today gave the Williams siblings their third Grand Slam doubles title. They also won the 1999 U.S. Openand French Open.
After Venus’ win on Centre Court Saturday the two admittedly have captured their dream titles. “My dream all my life as long as I could remember was to win the U.S. Open and Venus’s dream was to win Wimbledon,” Serena told Good Morning America. “Now, my dream is Wimbledon and I don’t know if her dream is the U.S. Open. Well it’s kinda of cool and we are really gonna fight for it.”
The two have been chided in the press for “over confidence” and have even been called “cocky.” But with two Grand Slam titles they’re now being touted as the next big thing in tennis, with their personalities considered a plus.
“"We have taken a lot of undue criticism,” Venus said. “Everyone has a right to write and say what they want and I have the right to win as much as I want in the future.”
The doubles final was postponed until today because of rain thatextended the men’s final — won by Pete Sampras over Patrick Rafter.The eighth-seeded Williams sisters overwhelmed theirfourth-seeded opponents with unreturnable serves and powerfulvolleys. They slapped hands after each point, win or lose, andwhispered tactics to each other between points.
Popular Reads
ABC News Live