By Bill Scott Jul 2, 2005, 18:25 GMT
London - Venus Williams erupted in leaps of joy and spontaneous celebration Saturday as she won the longest women's final ever played at the 18.5-million-dollar Wimbledon Championships.
Venus Williams of the US leaps in the air with the championship trophy. EPA/FABRICE COFFRINI
The American whose career looked to be in a downward slide due to injury and poor form, took two hours, 45 minutes as she came from a set down to defeat fellow American and top seed Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 9-7.
Williams added the trophy to those she lifted at the height of her career here in 2000 and 2001, following on from Davenport, the 1999 champion.
Davenport needed an injury time-out for a back problem midway through the final set as 14th seed Williams, 25, survived one championship point before repeating her 2000 final win over the 1999 champion.
Williams claimed a fifth Grand Slam title on her second opportunity after double-faulting on the first.
In her victory celebrations, the American began jumping for joy, finally falling to the Centre court grass in stunned disbelief.
"Thanks you God for letting me be healthy and letting my family be with me," she said after accepting the trophy. "You never know what life will throw at you.
"Each day, I just expect the sun to come up, that's all these days," said the woman whose last Grand Slam finals appearance came here in 2003 when she lost to her sister Serena, a victim this year in the third round.
Williams looked to be in deep trouble as world number 1 Davenport, bidding for her fourth Grand Slam title after an interval of five and a half years, snapped up the opening set in 33 minutes.
The Californian who a year ago was pondering retirement, missed a chance to close out a straight-sets win while leading 6-5 in the second after breaking Williams.
But the top seed, still 14-13 lifetime over her most frequent opponent, put a low backhand into the net to find herself in a tiebreaker, which Williams won to square the match.
Davenport took a 4-2 lead in the third set, but found herself dealing with back problems which required three-minute off-court injury treatment after the seventh game.
Williams broke through, putting her rival under pressure with a break for 8-7, then in the next game rifled a backhand down the line for three championship points.
She double-faulted on the first but screamed with joy when Davenport fired a forehand low into the net to end it.
"Lindsay played so well, there were so many times I was just trying to staying the match," said Williams. "I couldn't ask for a better player to make me raise my level."
Williams has appeared in five Wimbledon finals over six years, including victory over Davenport in the final here in 2000,."It feels so much better after the match," she admitted.
"There's so much stress and tension while you are playing, I couldn't have asked for a better career."
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