Serena Beats Injured Venus for Second Wimbledon Title

It was a bittersweet victory against her ailing sister. When the match was over, the victor was apparently feeling sorry for her opponent rather than enjoying her second Wimbledon title. Her older sister in the final ended struggling in pain.

Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus in the women`s singles final on center court at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on July 5, 2003. Serena (22) won the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 against fourth-seeded Venus.

It was the sixth major title for the young player in her early 20s. She won $35,000, or 1.05 million won, in cash.

Venus, having already lost to her younger sister for a fifth consecutive time at a major championship, was not in good shape at all. He was suffering from abdominal strain and her thigh was wrapped with tape.

Venus won the first set only to lose the second to Serena. Then in the final set, she had to take a 10-minute medical timeout and got treated at a locker room. Some thought of her quitting the game, which had never happened before in a Wimbledon final. But she came back and managed to finish her time out regardless of the pain.

They were sisters, after all. After the match, Venus, her fourth straight Wimbledon final, including wins in 2000-2001 and last year`s loss to Serena, flagged down a club official and handed him a camera to capture the moment with her sister.

“If it were not a Wimbledon final and if I were not playing against my own sister, I might have withdrawn,” said the older sister hinting that she was not driven by the desire to win.

Some 13,800 spectators gave them a standing ovation as the two sisters left the court together.

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Todd Woodbridge and Jonas Bjorkman won the Wimbledon men`s doubles title Saturday, defeating top-seeded Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyl 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

It was Woodbridge`s eighth men`s doubles title at Wimbledon, which ties a 1905 record set by brothers Hugh and Reggie Doherty.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com