Kneel before her

In one of the boringest finals in my lifetime, Serena Williams womanhandled all comers including today’s unlucky victim, Vera Zvonereva, on her way to a fourth Wimbledon singles crown.

Probably the second boringest match was the 1992 final when Steffi beat down Monica, 6-2, 6-1.  Steffi was the underdog in that match and had lost her previous two grand slam encounters against Seles in the 1992 and 1990 French finals.  Payback was sweet then, so I didn’t mind the one-sidedness.

In today’s 6-3, 6-2 drubbing, Zvonereva was outmatched in every stroke. Her offense was a pittance and her defense reminiscent of Custer. The match remained close for the first six games as the newly ninth-ranked Russian kept her forehand errors to a minimum. In the seventh game, Serena ripped a backhand return that blew Zvonevera’s mind.  The American broke serve to go up 4-3 and then allowed a deflated Zvonereva to win only 2 more games.

Frankly, this match would have been more interesting if Vera unveiled one of her as-of-yet unpatented meltdowns.  Crying on court, smashing racquets, yelling, screaming, hitting herself – you name it, she’s done it. But, on this sunny Saturday in London, she kept her composure and submitted willingly to her opponent.

In hoisting the Venus Rosewater Dish, Serena broke her tie with American legend, Billie Jean King (now starring in those odd but entertaining Geico commercials), in the contest for most grand slam singles titles of all time.  Serena now stands alone in the fifth ranking with 13 Big Four crowns.

Given the state of Venus’ game, I would not be surprised if Serena claimed the title of “best grasscourt player of this generation” from Venus by the time the two retire.  Venus currently holds 5 Wimby crowns to 4 for Serena, but little sister is clearly capable of coming up with the goods.  Go, younger siblings!

Let’s hope tomorrow’s final is more interesting and perhaps shows some more of the softer side of Rafa a la this choice photo (embracing his Scottish opponent, Andy Murray, after his 13th straight victory in London):

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