Venus is out of this world
Venus Williams staged a remarkable fightback against world number one Lindsay Davenport to claim her third Wimbledon crown.
Davenport was on course for victory until aggravating a lower-back strain and Williams seized her chance to secure a 4-6 7-6 9-7 triumph after a two hour and 45-minute epic, the longest final in history.
The 29-year-old Davenport, who sustained the injury in her semi-final against Amelie Mauresmo, was forced to return to the locker room for treatment while leading 4-3 in the final set.
Davenport, who had served for the match in the second set, returned but was clearly in pain and – moving gingerly around the baseline – it was only a matter of time before she succumbed.
The 25-year-old Williams, champion in 1999 and 2000, faced Championship point in a nerve-wracking final set but maintained her focus to claim her first Grand Slam title since the US Open five years ago.
It enabled her to become only the third woman in Wimbledon history to win a singles final from match point down.
Williams dropped a set for the first time in the Championships but recovered superbly to play her best tennis and make a mockery of her 14th seeding.
After being held up for an hour by the delayed second men’s semi-final, Davenport, champion in 1999, seemed determined to make up for lost time.
She hit the ball crisply from the start and it was no surprise when she broke her opponent a second time to go 5-2 ahead.
Williams suddenly rediscovered her touch to win nine points in a row but it was too little, too late.
Having dropped her serve once, Davenport ensured there was no repeat as she closed out the first set 6-4 in just 33 minutes.
The 25-year-old Williams maintained her improvement after a sluggish start and gave her opponent the runaround in an impressive third game which she held to love.
Davenport was forced to save a break point in the next game as the pendulum began to swing.
Williams made it tough for herself when she double-faulted twice but she demonstrated her mental strength by saving two break points to remain 3-2 ahead.
Davenport’s concentration was tested in the fifth game in which she was on the wrong end of a lucky net cord and a blatantly wrong call.
The normally undemonstrative Californian was incensed by a Williams serve called an ace but clearly wide according to slow-motion replays. The point put Williams 30-0 up and she went on to win the game.
A shaken Davenport was forced to save a set point at 4-5 down but she held on and broke her opponent in the next game after the error-prone Williams had come up with a seventh ace.
But the match took another twist when Davenport, serving for the title, was broken to love and a fired-up Williams played her best tennis of the match to win the tie-break 7-4 and level the match.
Davenport, clearly vulnerable in the lengthy baseline rallies, achieved a landmark success when she won a 16-stroke rally in the second game to earn a break point.
But Williams produced a second ace of the match to stave off the threat and the set continued on serve until Davenport came up with the first break in the sixth game.
It was then that the top seed began to feel the effects of a back spasm and her lack of mobility was evident as she dropped her serve, enabling Williams to break back immediately.
With the match delicately balanced at 4-3 to Davenport in the final set, she had on-court treatment before calling for a medical time-out and heading back to the locker room.
Davenport was clearly in pain and moved gingerly around the baseline when she returned – but she was determined not to give up without a fight.
A ninth Williams double fault gave her a Championship point but Davenport could not take advantage and Williams turned the screw with a winning drop shot.
Davenport managed to win her next three service games but a 25-stroke rally, the longest of the match, in the 14th game of the finl set took its toll and she was finally broken in the next game.
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