July 4 (Bloomberg) -- Serena Williams won her third Wimbledon title and first in six years by beating her older sister and defending champion Venus.

Serena won 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, on Centre Court at the All England Club in London, preventing her sister from taking a third consecutive title. Only Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova have managed to win three in a row since professionals were admitted in the Open era of tennis in 1968.

“It feels so amazing,” Serena told the 15,000 spectators in Centre Court. “I feel like I shouldn’t be holding the trophy. It’s named ‘The Venus,” and she always wins,” said Serena, who had sunk to her knees after she won the match as her sister netted a backhand.

It was the fourth time the American sisters met in a Wimbledon final, with Serena now winning three. Today’s win also tipped their all-time head-to-head record in her favor, 11-10. It is the longest rivalry between sisters on the WTA Tour since 1971, according to the women’s circuit. Manuela and Katerina Maleeva of Bulgaria played each other nine times, with Manuela taking the series 8-1.

“She was just too good,” said Venus, who had embraced her sister after the match was over and then slumped into her courtside chair. “She had an answer for everything. She played her best tennis today, so congratulations.”

Three of Four

Serena now holds three of the four majors -- Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the U.S. Open. Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova won the French Open.

The only sisters to have both reached the No. 1 ranking on the WTA Tour, the Williamses have now won a total of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, starting with Serena at the 1999 U.S. Open.

In the last decade, they have taken over the grass courts at the All England Club, winning eight championships in singles. They played a riveting final a year ago, with Venus winning her fifth Wimbledon title 7-5, 6-4. Serena previously won in 2002 and 2003.

“I have never seen so much will-power on a tennis court, ever,” Billie Jean King, a six-time champion who watched the final from the Royal Box, told the British Broadcasting Corp. after the match. “She takes no prisoners.”

In today’s match, there were shorter rallies compared with last year’s final as both women tried to finish the points quicker.

First Set

In the first set, Venus failed to convert two break points for a 5-3 lead as Serena hit a high-bouncing second serve that clipped off the line and the defending champion sent a forehand passing over the baseline in an open court.

In the tie-break, Serena raced to a 5-2 lead as she took advantage of a few unforced errors by Venus. A cross-court forehand winner by Serena set up four set points. The American converted the second set point and took the first set 7-6 (7-3) as she lobbed her sister at the net.

In the second set, Serena kept putting pressure on her sister by attacking her second serve. Serena broke serve for a 4-2 lead as Venus, who struggled to get her first serve in, produced a double fault on break point. In the next game, Venus kept struggling to keep the ball within the lines as Serena produced an ace and held serve without conceding a point as her sister mis-hit a forehand.

Match Point

Serving to stay in the championship at 5-2 down, Venus fought back to overcome three match points. Serena won the match on her fourth match point as her sister hit a backhand in the net after a 18-shot rally.

Serena won 94 percent of the points on her first serve, while Venus managed 70 percent. The champion served 12 aces, ten more than Venus. She didn’t serve any double faults, while Venus hit three.

“They probably are the best of their era,” Bud Collins, a broadcaster and tennis historian for more than 40 years, said in an interview at Wimbledon today.

“They compare very well,” with nine-time champion Navratilova and seven-time winner Graf, Collins said.

Venus and Serena “can both can run like deer. They both have great hearts,” he said.

Having the sisters compete at Wimbledon, where they also teamed to win the doubles title today, is important for the tournament.

“They are the box-office stars,” Chris Gorringe, who retired as chief executive officer of the All England Club in 2005, said in an interview.

Turnover at Top

Since the retirement of top-ranked Justine Henin in May 2008, five women have held the No. 1 position, two of them -- current leader Dinara Safina of Russia and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia -- without winning a major. The sisters stand out from the rest of the women’s field because of their mental strength, tennis commentator and former player Mary Carillo said.

“Look at the great women’s champions, from Martina Navratilova to Chris Evert and Steffi Graf, they were all very strong mentally,” Carillo, a former French Open mixed doubles champion, said in an interview. “Serena, Venus and also Maria Sharapova are the same. When they step on a tennis court, they are saying to themselves, ‘What will it take for me to win the match?’ You don’t see that so much with the other women.”

Serena, 27 and seeded second at Wimbledon this year, showed her mental strength in her 2 hour, 49 minute semifinal against Elena Dementieva of Russia, when she overcame match point on her serve at 5-4 down in the third set.

Serena won the match 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 8-6, making her only the second player in the Open era at Wimbledon to come back from match point down on the way to the championship.

Criticism

The Williamses have been criticized in the past by Navratilova, who watched today’s match from the royal box, and others for not playing a full schedule and spending too much time on other interests, such as interior design and acting. Serena spent almost an entire press conference last week talking about a script she was trying to write.

Their longevity and success shows their strategy, and that of their coach and father, Richard, has been the right one.

“Their formula is, trying to peak for the majors and play 15 to 18 tournaments a year,” Pam Shriver, a five-time Wimbledon doubles champion and now a tennis commentator who has known the Williamses for 15 years, said in an interview. “It’s not a bad idea. You can’t question it now they are both in their late 20s.”

Hours after their singles matchup, the sisters beat the top-seeded Australian team of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 to claim their second straight Wimbledon doubles title and fourth overall.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Rossingh at the All England Club through the London sports desk at drossingh@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 4, 2009 16:22 EDT