July 06, 2008

VENUS and Serena Williams won the Wimbledon women's doubles title just hours after Venus defeated her younger sister in straight sets to claim the singles title.

The sisters joined forces to overpower Samantha Stosur from Australia and Lisa Raymond from the United States, winning 6-2 6-2 in cool, blustery conditions.

Stosur said while the weather wasn't ideal and the match was tough, she enjoyed the final - the first she and Raymond had played at Wimbledon.

“The wind wasn't the easiest thing, but neither was returning Venus' serve at 124 miles an hour so, it's the way it goes,'' Stosur said.

“It was our first Wimbledon final and unfortunately we came up against the two singles finalists as well, which wasn't easy, but we gave it our best shot.''

Stosur has another chance to win a title at the All England Club when she and American Bob Bryan meet Mike Bryan and Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik in the mixed doubles final.

“That will be a bit funny, my partner playing his brother ... but it should be a lot of fun,'' Stosur said.

The result saw the Williams sisters claim their 11th title as a pair, and their seventh grand slam crown.

The match did not start until 7.40pm local time and, with the light fading, the Williams sisters raced to a one-set lead in half an hour. Just 28 minutes later, they had won the match.

They claimed a decisive break in the fifth game of the second set, blasted through their next service game, which they won to love, and broke again for a 5-2 lead.

With Venus serving for the championship, the sisters won the final game to love, sealing victory when the five-time singles champion sent a backhand past Stosur to land just inside the baseline.