YAWN ON THE 4TH OF JULY

THE ONLY thing that disturbed Serena's serenity was when a WPC tumbled dizzily and loudly into a door just off court.

The heat, maybe. Or just drowsiness through boredom.

An all-American final. A yawn on the fourth of July.

Richard Williams decided a better option to watching his daughters knock up - sorry, battle for Wimbledon glory - was to go and cut his grass. Watching it grow might have proved more exciting than this.

Dominance

Very few matches live down to a startling lack of hype. But this was one of them.

It is not the Williams' fault. Their continuing dominance on grass is a damning indictment of the women's game.

But familiarity breeds contempt . . . and Wimbledon followers have no greater familiarity with anything other than this sibling dominance.

Conspiracy theories are tosh. But it is still disconcerting to see a vanquished Grand Slam finalist giggling as though she has just won a few quid on a scratchcard.

Smiling

"I guess it hasn't settled in yet as I am still smiling," said Venus after her 6-7, 2-6 defeat.

And it is still disconcerting to hear a triumphant Grand Slam finalist - resplendent in shiny mac - thanking Nike in her victory interview.

Ah well, must be an American thing. But at least Serena looked like she was willing to at least TRY and forget blood ties for a couple of hours.

Fist

It took her a full 27 minutes to clench her fist in motivation but at least she showed a semblance of aggression.

LOSING GRIP - Venus battles in vain this time

A swirling breeze, that seemed to be felt by her alone, gave Venus problems with her toss. At times, it seemed like she couldn't give one.

Of course, that cannot be true but, after winning 34 consecutive sets, this was a pretty meek surrender.

But there might be a reason for that - without wanting to take anything away from Serena's 11th Grand Slam triumph.

Grief

Venus' left knee is giving her far more grief than she lets on. That wasn't strapping, it was scaffolding. If a horse moved to post in the same way Venus moved around the court, it would be withdrawn lame.

Prior to the final, the five-times Wimbledon champion had been able to virtually stand there and simply blast opponents off the court. Against the power and mobility of her sister, that was never going to be an option.

That is why Serena came out on top. Not because they agreed over breakfast to make it 11-10 to the younger lass in head-to-head meetings.

Insult

Such tittle-tattle is an insult to both women. Between them, they have competed 28 times in Grand Slam Finals and have 18 titles between them.

Serena now wears the US, Australian and Wimbledon crowns. Bizarrely, she will still be No 2 in the world rankings - behind Dinara Safina.

Yep, the same Safina who has never won a Grand Slam and was beaten 6-1, 6-0 by Venus in the semis here. And the women's game wonders why it struggles for credibility.

Insight

The credibility of these two should not be questioned - it's just their relationship is so understandably close their matches lack any intensity. Serena, 27, gave an insight. "It's difficult because she's my sister and she's someone who I normally want to win," which explains why there were no extreme emotions as Serena nicked the first-set tie-break and then broke Venus twice to win her third Wimbledon and first since 2003.

But nothing should detract from the fact Serena is on her way to being one of the greatest women players ever.

She said: "To go down as the greatest women's player would be a great legacy. But I can't put myself in a sentence with the greatest because I think of people like Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Billie Jean King.

Honour

"To even be mentioned with those same people is a real honour for me. But I'm really young and I'm thinking only about continuing playing."

She went on to have a skilful pop at the rankings system and, all in all, her Press conference was positively sparkling.

The tone was set when she strutted in wearing a tight top with a logo emblaz- oned across her trophy cabinet. 'Are you looking at my titles?' Nice T-shirt, shame about the match.

PS: The young policewoman who fainted was sent home after treatment and is doing fine!

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