The Citizen (Gauteng)

Serena’s seven titles

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2002: bt Venus Williams (US) 7-6, 6-3

Aged 20, Serena already had two Grand Slam titles under her belt, but winning her first Wimbledon crown at the expense of her sister Venus was her true breakthrou­gh moment. Serena sealed a dominant win that moved her above Venus to the top of the WTA rankings. 2003: bt Venus Williams (US) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

With five Grand Slams in her trophy cabinet, Serena was well establishe­d as a global star, but the Williams’ sisters popularity with fans was still hit and miss after a less than warm reception at the French Open. Despite suffering from an abdominal injury earlier in the tournament, Venus was Serena’s final opponent again and it was the younger sibling who took the title for a second successive year. 2009: bt Venus Williams (US) 7-6, 6-2

After a barren six-year spell marred by Wimbledon final defeats against Venus and Maria Sharapova, it was Serena’s time to regain her throne. Victory in the fourth all-Williams Wimbledon final made it 11 Grand Slams for Serena. 2010: bt Vera Zvonareva (Rus) 6-3, 6-2

In the most one-sided of Serena’s Wimbledon finals, she needed just 66 minutes to demolish the outclassed Vera Zvonareva. Williams also moved past Billie-Jean King to sixth in the alltime list of female Grand Slam singles champions with 13 major titles. 2012: bt Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) 6-1, 5-7, 6-2

This was an emotional fifth Wimbledon title for Serena after injury and health issues forced her to the sidelines for over a year between 2010 and 2012. Serena became the first woman over 30 to win Wimbledon since Martina Navratilov­a in 1990. 2015: bt Garbine Muguruza (Esp) 6-4, 6-4

For the second time, the American secured the ‘Serena Slam’ as she held all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. Muguruza was making her major final debut and Serena exploited the youngster’s nerves despite a brief wobble of her own late in the second set when she twice dropped serve. It was the 33-year-old’s 21st Grand Slam title and third of 2015. 2016: bt Angelique Kerber (Ger) 7-5, 6-3

Serena’s seventh Wimbledon triumph gave her an historic 22nd Grand Slam title, equalling Steffi Graf’s Open era record. Kerber had beaten Williams in the Australian Open final in January, but the German couldn’t produce another shock. Williams, who had lost the French Open final just weeks earlier, was back to her best, dropping only one set.

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