Serena Williams celebrated American Independence Day by beating sister Venus 7-6, 6-2 to win her third Wimbledon singles title on Saturday.
Five-times champion Venus bowed out by dumping a backhand into the net, allowing Serena to lap up the polite applause of the 15,000 fans who had packed into a sun-kissed Centre Court.
There could hardly have been a better way to mark the Fourth of July. Yet Serena so nearly missed the party. In Thursday's semi-final she had been match-point down against Elena Dementieva before mounting a remarkable comeback.
That great escape appeared to have energised the younger of the Williams sister and she produced a superb display of power and aggression to win her 11th grand slam title.