| Saturday, 5 July 2008 Written by Adam Lincoln Somebody had to lose the ladies' singles final, but there was to be consolation for Serena Williams in the doubles, as she and elder sister Venus captured a third Wimbledon crown – their seventh Grand Slam title – by defeating Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur, 6-2, 6-2. Raymond and Stosur are both former doubles number ones: As a pair, they won the US Open in 2005 and Roland Garros in 2006, and in the first half of 2007 they collected five titles on the tour. But when Stosur fell ill and missed most of the second half of the season, their partnership suffered.
Still, the pair have enjoyed a vintage week, first defeating third seeds Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs in the last 16, then breezing past unseeded Ekaterina Makarova and Selima Sfar in the quarters. In their semi final they made top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber look ordinary.
But, with their powerful and well-grooved returns, the 11th-seeded Williams pairing made life hard for the resolute serve-and-volleyers from the get-go. Indeed, while Raymond and Stosur, the No.16 seeds, play a classical doubles game – at the net – they were often forced to play from the baseline far more than they must have liked.
The first to fall prey to the Williams onslaught was 34-year-old American Raymond – winner of the title in 2001 with Rennae Stubbs – who lost her serve in the second game of the match. Four games later she was in similar trouble, and although one break point was saved with a cat-and-mouse exchange that drew a volleying error from Serena, a second was converted when valiant net defence by Stosur was eventually quashed by a cracking Venus forehand down the line.
Serving for the set, Venus found herself down three break points, but three big serves helped pull her back to deuce, and duly hold to clinch the opener.
The early stages of the second set were closely contested, with Serena threatened on serve in the second game but ultimately standing firm. That feat spurred the singles runner-up to assume the alpha female role on court, intercepting at the net like her life depended on it to secure a break point opportunity for Venus.
While Raymond would hold, Stosur's serve came under pressure two games later, and a wildly misshit serve gave Serena a break point. A low, fast backkand return produced a netted volley by the incoming server, and the sisters edged ahead 3-2.
Down 2-5, Raymond was again under siege at the hands of Serena, but although she correctly read her opponent's crosscourt forehand, her down-the-line response sailed long. Venus subsequently rifled a backhand pass crosscourt for the break, and, serving for the match in the next game, sealed the sisters' fate with a lob over Stosur that landed on the baseline.
With it, Venus and Serena moved to a 7-0 record in doubles Grand Slam finals, and also recorded their 100th doubles win as a unit. Of the four combatants in the final, only Australian Stosur is yet to complete a career doubles Grand Slam – with Wimbledon to join the Australian Open as a missing link for another year.
| Centre Court - Ladies' Doubles - Finals | |
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Match Statistics
Williams Double the Delight
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