Women's Final: Johnny Watterson witnessed a final that, while not a classic, was devoid of fraud

Forensically examined, not for its competitive worth but to see if a fraud had been perpetrated by the Williams family, the women's singles final was signed off as correct and proper.

It was loud and it was of big-screen dimensions with the two sisters hitting balls at each other in a manner only they could generate and sustain.

It was a stadium gig, bigger in breadth than any final before due to the imposing physical presence of the sisters, Serena and Venus, the emotional dynamic of the sibling rivalry and its place in Wimbledon history. The question it now asks of the game after Serena's domination of her sister in the last two Grand Slam events, is where do other players fit into the Williams model.

The bombastic drive of the more rapacious younger sibling finally won the match 7-6, 6-3 after a compelling first set and a second which dipped in tempo and intensity as tiredness or injury crept into Venus' game. The speed of her serves noticeably dropped to normal levels in the second phase, with a double fault for a 5-3 service break inviting Serena to serve out for the match.

"She (Venus) never has an excuse for anything," said Serena. "I knew it (shoulder) was hurting before hand. And I said 'Are you okay?' She said 'Yeh, I'm going to be okay'. You really have to respect her as a person, as a player, as a sister, because not everyone would do that."

For an hour and 18 minutes the 14,000 crowd could only absorb the contest in mute awe at the velocity of the serves and groundstrokes both players were hurling across the lawn.

While a few loose shots at important moments generated a blaze of conspiratorial smiles, the processional exhibition that cynics were predicting did not transpire. Little other than admiration hung in the Centre Court air for the levels to which the sisters demonstrably raised the game.

The younger Serena, barely aware that she had denied her older sister a place in history as a three-times successive winner along with Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova, glowed in the aftermath of what may not have been a classic but was a compelling performance.

Questions are now likely to be asked of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), their development programmes and structures that father Richard Williams so pointedly ignored in raising his children from their Los Angeles ghetto.

Dismissed as an eccentric braggart with his hand-written "Welcome To The Williams Show" placards, Richard has proven to be prescient and startlingly accurate in the predictions he made about his daughters dominating tennis. He had even said before she made the breakthrough that Serena was the more talented. Diplomacy was never his talent.

It was Serena's 19th successive victory including the world's two biggest clay-court titles in Rome and Paris and now Wimbledon. Remarkably the 20-year-old has lost only four matches in the last 12 months.

"Today, honestly, I wanted to win so bad and I kept thinking to myself 'okay Serena, just stay calm. She already has two Wimbledons. Try to fight.' And I really played really good today. Venus, she didn't - her serve - her arm was a little tired. Too much work on it. We really have been just beating ourselves up.

"But I can't become satisfied because if I get satisfied it will be like 'Oh, I've won Wimbledon. I've won the US Open. Now I can relax.' But now people are really going to be fighting to beat me.

"I just wanted Wimbledon. I wanted to become a member of so much prestige, so much history. I want to be a part of history."

That is already certain with Serena's tiara accessory now replaced with another crown and with the prospect of her elder sister being the main threat to her world number one status, the Williams show is going to run and run.

Serena began the match with a double fault before the two exchanged service breaks four times, Venus returning outrageous groundstrokes that she and nobody else could have retrieved. But the shorter, more muscular build of Serena always gave her the edge as she stooped to pick off the low bounces and crack winners back all over the court.

A tie-break handed Serena the first set as Venus, appearing more distracted, began to concede ground. The hunger appeared more evident in Serena and perhaps Venus could sense it as she spent the entire second set chasing the match, her second serve fatally dipping below 70 m.p.h. Serena, in combat mood, simply savaged the weakness.

"Yeah, I noticed her serve dip, especially in the second set," said Serena. "If I'm a competitor I'm going to have to notice it. Unfortunately it's like a war out there. You know, if there's a weakness someone's going to have to be attacked."

The more the sisters play each other the more they are likely to learn to compete as if the other is simply another opponent.

Their future struggles with each other will be for supremacy. It may not be good for the game but in their slipstream other players will be dragged with them. Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin and Amelie Mauresmo may be dazzled now but how tennis will deal with the Williams sisters will be the next phase of the story.