Serena Tops Venus, Bjorkman/Woodbridge Defend Doubles Title at Wimbledon

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
In the men's doubles final Saturday, (4)Bjorkman/Woodbridge beat (1)Bhupathi/Mirnyi 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 to successfully defend their Wimbledon title. It was Woodbridge's eighth men's doubles title at Wimbledon, an Open Era record, and his 14th Grand Slam men's doubles titles, an Open Era record. Woodbridge with 76 overall doubles titles is closing in on the record of 78 held by Tom Okker.

While many are giving the edge to Mark Philippoussis in the Wimbledon final for his "big match experience" (losing in one slam final?), the championship match against Roger Federer is a true toss-up for a number of reasons. Flipper, with a huge serve, has a shaky volley and is erratic. Club Fed, though he has game to spare, has yet to shake the tag as a head case in big matches, sometimes simply not showing up. The two have played each other three times over the last three years, never on grass, and all three matches virtually went the distance. Philippoussis has dreamed of Wimbledon all these years, and would likely still be dreaming had he run into a Pete Sampras, Richard Krajicek, Goran Ivanisevic, or Patrick Rafter along the way, but this year's draw was void of the great grasscourt players, so you're left with "Scud." Federer for his part hasn't as much dreamed of Wimbledon as he's heard from everyone and their grandmother that he should have won it by now. Is the Swiss now ready to step up to his rightful position, or just be content with reaching his first slam final? "You always dream of being in a grand slam final, then you're in the final and you're almost a little bit disappointed," said Federer, still perhaps grappling with his personal feelings of worthiness. "It's a surprise in one way, but then in another it's not. I am already five in the world and I have high expectations. The feeling is relief in a way, that I can perform in grand slams, because that was really the only part of my career missing, the grand slam results. So, it's already been a great two weeks, but I could finish it off in style tomorrow." Federer's biggest adversary seems to be his inner critic. "After winning against Pete (Sampras), I didn't believe I could be in the finals two years later, even though people were predicting that." Club Fed looks a lot better on paper, but if Philippoussis can pump in over 40 aces as he did against Andre Agassi, what's a Swiss to do?

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Was Serena tanking the first set? Would Venus retire during the match? Would there be more unforced errors than winners? These and other questions surrounded the trademark tentative, sloppy, nervous, and at many times unwatchable tennis during the all-Williams final, with Serena finally snapping out of her daze in facing off against her injured sibling, coming back for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win. Venus put on a game display with her injured abs, which unfortunately only seemed to come into play after she burst out of the gate to take the first set off a subdued Serena. All in all, another sister head-to-head, not unlike Chinese food in seemingly filling you up at the time, but leaving you hungry again a half-hour later. As Serena said in her post-match interview, she should have won the French Open too. Viva le arrogance!

WOMEN'S CONSECUTIVE WIMBLEDON FINAL APPEARANCES
9 -- Martina Navratilova (1982-90)
5 -- Chris Evert-Lloyd (1978-82)
5 -- Billie Jean King (1966-70)
4 -- Venus Williams (2000-03)

MOST MEN'S DOUBLES TITLES
Tom Okker (NED) 78
John McEnroe (USA) 77
Todd Woodbridge (AUS) 76
Frew McMillan (RSA) 74
Mark Woodforde (AUS) 67

ATP CHAMPIONS RACE UPDATE
1st Ferrero,Juan Carlos/ESP 537
2nd Federer,Roger/SUI 485 (545 for title)
3rd Agassi,Andre/USA 472
4th Coria,Guillermo/ARG 372
5th Roddick,Andy/USA 370
6th Schuettler,Rainer/GER 349
7th Moya,Carlos/ESP 319
8th Philippoussis,Mark/AUS 245 (305 for title)

TOUR NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
In Brad Gilbert's fantasy world, Andy Roddick would have beat Roger Federer if he had converted that set point in the first-set tiebreaker: "It was a big moment. Maybe if (Roddick) wins that (first) set, he breaks him the first game and the other guy's down and instead of being 7-6, 6-3 down, maybe he's 7-6, 6-3 up. That's the separation sometimes in any sport -- 5-8 minutes you don't get back -- turn that 7 minutes around to his favor, I think he wins the match." Yeah, and maybe he would have magically figured out how to volley too...In the Open Era, only Steffi Graf with nine and Monica Seles with eight had more majors at a similar age as Serena Williams...Team Williams has 20 total Slam titles…In addition to reaching the men's doubles semis unseeded with partner Jonathan Erlich, Israel's Andy Ram and Anastassia Rodionova have reached the mixed final as an unseeded team; he is the first Israeli to appear in a Wimbledon final...The men's final is also a possible preview of September's Davis Cup World Group semifinal, where Switzerland will face Australia on Rebound Ace at Melbourne Park...Philippoussis came into Wimbledon ranked No. 48 on the ATP Entry Rankings...Prior to this Wimbledon, the furthest a Swiss man had ever gone at a Grand Slam event in the Open Era was to the semifinals at 1996 Roland Garros, where Marc Rosset advanced to the last four before losing to Michael Stich...Fed is only 9-13 career against Australians...Federer was Wimbledon boys' champion in 1998, defeating Irakli Labadze...Both Pat Cash and Stefan Edberg, the last two men to achieve the feat, won the Wimbledon men's title five years after becoming junior champion (Fed won it five years ago)...Fed's girlfriend is former pro Mirka Vavrinec, who handles his PR and other things...Should Philippoussis defeat Federer, he will have captured his first Grand Slam title in his 28th Grand Slam event -- only two men in the Open Era have played a higher number of Grand Slam events before capturing their first Grand Slam title, Goran Ivanisevic and Petr Korda...Philippoussis's quarterfinal victory over Alexander Popp was his third career comeback from two-sets-to-love down, and he now boasts a 14-6 career five-set win-loss record...Goran Ivanisevic served a record 212 aces during his seven matches at 2001 Wimbledon...Flipper has never lost a match when serving 30 or more aces...Hey NBC's Ted Robinson, stop talking. When Mary Carillo says anything, just nod your head…WEATHER: A bit cloudy with a chance for rain…STAT OF THE DAY: Roger Federer is the first Swiss player to ever play in a Grand Slam final.