Venus extends horizon to 2012

Like Roger Federer, Venus Williams will define her career by her achievements at the All England Club. Like the men's world No 1, she won her first Grand Slam title here. Like him, she feels more at home on Centre Court than in any other arena in the world. And like him, she is looking ahead to the tennis at the 2012 Olympic Games, hosted by Wimbledon, as a final goal in her professional life.

"I'd definitely like to play two more Olympics," Williams said here on Saturday night after lifting the appropriately named Venus Rosewater Dish for the fourth time. "I think I can do that for sure. I love what I do. I love my job. I love playing. I love having the opportunity to play. Every day that goes by I realise more and more how blessed I am.

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"I've won gold before [at Sydney in 2000] and it's a wonderful feeling. The reason I played in the Olympics was my dad. He always wanted us to play. He always thought it was special. I didn't understand, so I was just out there playing, loose and relaxed, not realising that I was winning gold. I loved winning that because it was beyond my dreams, so I'd love to do that in 2012."

That prospect is a sobering thought for every other player, including sister Serena. When Venus is fit and the fire is in her eyes there is no better female exponent of grass-court tennis.

Playing as she did in the latter stages here, crushing Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic and finally Marion Bartoli, she looks unstoppable. Nobody combines her power, reach, command of the net, athleticism, ability to carry out a game plan and sheer willpower. Four of her six Grand Slam titles have been won on these courts, where the conditions suit her game like nowhere else.

"I can't see how a player can beat her when she plays like this on grass," Bartoli (below) said after her 6-4, 6-1 defeat in the final. "It's not possible to beat her. She's just too good. She reached some balls like I'd never see anyone reach on a tennis court. And then she would hit it back to me even harder. She was hitting her first serve at 120mph. Sometimes the ball was coming back so fast that it was hurting my wrist."

Bartoli, who in earlier rounds beat the world No 1 and No 3 in Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic, will be proud to have reached her first Grand Slam final. However, the 22-year-old Frenchwoman never looked capable of preventing Williams from becoming the fourth woman in the Open era to win four titles here, after Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf.

The world No 19 rallied in the first set, levelling at 3-3 from 0-3, but fell victim to her opponent's perfectly executed game plan. Not only is Bartoli one of the game's less agile players, but her double-handed strokes mean that she can be exposed when stretched wide on either side of the court. Williams kept pummelling the ball into the corners, either hitting winners or setting up the chance to put away winning volleys.

If Serena's victory in this year's Australian Open was statistically the more remarkable achievement - she was ranked No 81 in the world, had not won a tournament for two years and had played only six tournaments in the preceding 16 months - there should be no underestimating the extraordinary nature of her sister's victory here.

Last year there was talk that a wrist injury might end Venus's career. Between her third-round exit here at the hands of Jelena Jankovic 12 months ago and her return in Memphis in February, she was able to play just one tournament, in Luxembourg last October.

Since winning in Memphis - her first win since her 2005 Wimbledon triumph - her best performance in six events had been a semi-final appearance on clay in Charleston, South Carolina. In the 24 months since her 2005 Wimbledon win she had played three matches on grass, here a year ago. Her world ranking at No 31 (she will rise to No 17 today) was 15 places worse than when she won in 2005, then the lowest ranking for a female Wimbledon winner.

Venus said Serena's win in Melbourne in January had renewed her determination to come back again. Nursing her wrist at home in Florida, she would get up in the middle of the night to watch her sister's matches.

"I was watching on TV and when she was winning I was elated and when she was down I couldn't be consoled," Venus said. "I'd get upset and I'd have to call the hotline to my other sisters. We'd call to support each other and tell each other: 'It's OK. Just take a deep breath.' It was so ridiculous. Sometimes I'd get so nervous that I'd have to turn off the TV and text someone who was at the match to give me the score.

"It was outrageous, but I was her biggest fan. I had to set my alarm for 3am to watch her first match. I didn't have any chance of playing in Australia and all my hopes were transferred to her. I wanted her to do it. People didn't believe she could do it, but she did. She believed she had the game."

The sisters have an extraordinary bond. After Serena had been beaten by Henin in the quarter-finals, she was asked whether she had seen the eventual champion that day. Without hesitation she said she had - playing in the fourth round. She was referring to Venus, who had just blasted Sharapova off court for the loss of only four games.

Does Venus believe the sisters can dominate again? "I think we obviously have the game and the mental and physical ability to do it and whatever else it might take," she said. "People are always wondering. But hopefully after Serena and I have won two Grand Slam titles this year, people will say: 'They're probably going to win, no matter what anybody says.' But even if they don't, for us it's all internal. We know we believe inside and we don't let go of that."

At 25 and 27, Serena and Venus are senior figures on the women's tour. Injuries have been an issue - Serena could hardly hit a backhand against Henin and Venus ended the tournament with her upper left thigh heavily strapped. Venus, however, insists there should be no doubting their desire.

"I have to recover," she said on Saturday night. "I want to stay on tour. I want to play."