Wimbledon Tennis
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In Roger Federer and Venus Williams, the 119th Championships embraced two familiar figures as Singles champions. Federer triumphed in the Men's Singles for the third successive year, while Williams, whose form and ranking sank to a depressing low after injury, pulled off a spectacular comeback as the 14th seed to collect her third Ladies' title in six years.
Despite poor weather towards the end of the second week, the tournament was completed on time, with Federer's stunning, straight-sets victory over Andy Roddick the highlight of the culminating day. The world No.1 has now won 36 consecutive matches on grass, just five short of matching Bjorn Borg's record, and he has also now won the last 21 finals in which he has played. The winner's cheque of £630,000, while obviously welcome, was of secondary importance to him, as was evident by his reactions at the end - tears of joy.
With every match, Federer is setting new standards for his peers to attempt to emulate, and the portents for those labouring in his wake are not promising. "This is the best match I have ever played," he said after beating Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Asked where he went from here, the American said, "Home, fast."
The success of Williams in an all-American final against Lindsay Davenport restored the women's trophy to US hands after Maria Sharapova's success for Russia in 2004. The previous five years had all gone the way of American women, with the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, claiming two each and Davenport becoming the last champion of the 20th century.
On her way to Centre Court, Williams had to pass beneath the famous Rudyard Kipling quote in the All England Club's main hall about triumph and disaster "and treating those two impostors just the same". Certainly she flirted with disaster before claiming triumph in the shape of the aptly-named Venus Rosewater Dish and prize money of £600,000. She faced match point in the third set and half a dozen times stood just a couple of points from defeat, only to claw her way back to win 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) 9-7.