Serena Williams celebrated a fifth Wimbledon women's singles title on Saturday beating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 5-7, and 6-2 to claim her 14th Grand Slam title.
It was Serena's first major title since suffering a severe foot injury and pulmonary embolism. She became the first woman over 30 to win a major title since Martina Navratilova hoisted the Rosewater Dish in 1990.
"It's been an unbelievable journey for me," said Williams."I feel amazing out there. This whole tournament I felt really great physically. So I think it's definitely the beginning of something great. I hope it is."
After hitting a backhand winner on match point, she fell onto her back to the grass. She then rose with a grin as big sister Venus-another five-time Wimbledon champion-smiled and applauded, along with the rest of the crowd.
Radwanska, who was playing in her first Grand Slam final, has been ill with respiratory problem, making it difficult for her to speak. In the second set and already down a break, the third-seeded Pole was coughing and blowing her nose during a changeoverIn the next game, Radwanska managed to even the score at 4-4, and then broke again to win the second set.
Williams gave her response in the third set, taking the last five games of the match. She managed to finish with 58 winners to 13 for Radwanska, including a 20-3 edge in the final set.
"She started playing really, really well," Williams said. "She started playing excellent grass court tennis, getting a lot of balls, and I panicked a little bit and I shouldn't have."
With many people starting to write Williams off, after her first round loss in this year's French Open, Wimbledon was the stage in which she began to look every bit like a champion.
She broke her own tournament record for aces in a match with 23 against Zheng Jie in the third round. Less than a week later, she eclipsed that mark with 24 against Azarenka in the semifinals.
On Saturday, she recorded 17 aces- including four in one game- with a record of 102 for the tournament.
Radwanska, with a victory, would have claimed the No. 1 ranking title. Instead, Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka will reclaim the top spot from Maria Sharapova.
"I really had my chances, and I took the second set," Radwanska said. "Then I think she was just too good in important moments in the third set, so it was too hard for me to come back."
