Venus and Serena Williams have commanded the Centre Court grass as if it were their own backyard in combining to collect 10 of the last 13 Wimbledon singles titles. The Williams sisters returned to the most prestigious patch of lawn in tennis to set a gold standard in doubles today.
Venus and Serena powered past Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, 6-4, 6-4, in the Olympic final to become the first team to capture three Olympic doubles gold medals. An Olympic journey that has crossed continents and surfaces started with the sisters winning gold at the 2000 Sydney Games, continued through their 2008 Beijing triumph and spiked on turf today as the reigning Wimbledon champions collected their fourth career gold medals.
It was a golden weekend for Serena, who became the first player to sweep singles and doubles gold medals since Venus achieved the double gold feat 12 years ago. It was a milestone moment for Serena: Weeks after raising her fifth Venus Rosewater Dish, she became the first player in history to complete the career Golden Slam in singles and doubles.
The Czech pair, who swept top-seeded Americans Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the semifinals, looked a little tight in the opening game before settling into the match. Hradecka double faulted, netted a backhand and dropped serve in the opening game when Venus whipped a low forehand.
Spotting two of the most imposing servers in women's tennis history an early break and coming back to win on grass is a task as demanding as trimming the Centre Court lawn armed only with a pair of tweezers, but the 2011 Roland Garros champions hung tough in earning a break point on Venus' serve in the sixth game and played like a pair thoroughly enjoying the moment. Serena, who was tagged by a Hlavackova volley earlier, returned the favor tattooing the Czech with a backhand swing volley to save the break point. Venus eventually held for 4-2. Four games later, Hlavackova and Hradecka earned another break point on a Venus double fault into net. Hradecka put a good swing on a flat return, but found the top of the tape. Escaping that bit of drama, Venus unloaded three straight massive serves, including a vicious flat strike off the service line, to serve out the first set in 51 minutes.
Doubles can bring out the shades of variety in Serena's game — she teased Hlavackova with her slice serve wide on the deuce side and played some sharp-angled swing volleys — but facing a second break point in her first service game of the second set, Serena blasted an ace down the middle to deny the threat and hold for 1-1.
The sisters blew the match open in reeling off 12 consecutive points to open a 4-2 lead and never looked back. Smacking another biting ace down the T that dislodged a bit of grass, Serena earned a third championship point and the sisters closed the 93-minute conquest on a Venus backhand volley winner, ending it with an embrace.
Serena was still a teenager and Venus, just 20, when the sisters won their first gold in Sydney. Extending their Olympic doubles record to 15-0, the four-time gold medalists may just make another run at gold in the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.