Venus Wins 4th Wimbledon; Federer v Nadal Final

The Swiss navigated a tough opening set to defeat the No. 12-seeded Gasquet 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Gasquet had three break points on the Federer serve in the opening set, including two at 5-5.

"If I did this break point, everything can happen if I win the first set," Gasquet said.

Federer also realized that the mentally fragile yet explosive Gasquet would have the chance to relax with the first set under his belt.

"The first set was crucial," Federer said. "He should have at least got to the tiebreaker. I came out somehow and played really well for 10 minutes and was up a set and a break, and that was pretty much it after that."

Federer is trying to win a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title, matching the feat of Bjorn Borg who watched Saturday from the stands.

"It is tricky when you see him sitting there because he is a living legend," Federer said. "I have so much respect for him that it is great that he's here. I hope I can do the job tomorrow."

Nadal lost the first set to Djokovic before the Serb started feeling the effects of a blister on his foot and back pain that troubled him the day before in a gallant five-set win over Marcos Baghdatis.

Nadal said it took a set for him to find his footing.

"I start the match playing bad," Nadal said. "But I was practicing before the warm-up bad, too."

Djokovic called for a trainer in the third set, and eventually retired from the match trailing 1-4 in the third. Djokovic also withdrew against Nadal last year at the French Open.

"I didn't sleep during the night because there was a lot of bleeding and I was barely walking this morning," said Djokovic of the blister on his toe than had become infected. "I wanted to avoid forcing the injury and making it more serious for the future. It was not only that. It was also my back which was a problem over the last couple of days and basically all my body. I'm really exhausted."

Sunday will be a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final where Federer defeated Nadal 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3.

Venus Williams Claims 4th Wimbledon Title

Venus Williams won her fourth Wimbledon singles title with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Marion Bartoli at the All England Club Saturday as the No. 23 seed.

"I've always believed I can do it and I've trained for it but to actually do it is something else completely," Williams said. "I brought it together here against some of the best players in the world."

Williams overpowered the 22-year-old Bartoli who had done likewise to world No. 1 Justine Henin in the semifinals a day earlier.

The No. 18-seeded Bartoli and Williams combined for the lowest combined seeding in a Wimbledon final. The Frenchwoman showed signs of fatigue coming off a three-set match the previous day as Wimbledon had players competing on consecutive days to make up for rain.

In the second set Bartoli was treated for blisters on her foot while Williams took the same time-out opportunity to have her thigh taped.

It was the first Slam final for Bartoli, and the first meeting between the two. Bartoli has previously never been past the third round at Wimbledon in three attempts, nor past the 4th round at a Slam in 22 appearances.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
At No. 23, Venus Williams was the lowest-seeded winner in Wimbledon history...American junior phenom Donald Young on being 0-10 in taking wildcards at ATP-level events: "I got the opportunity and some wildcards -- and who wouldn't take it? Hey, it's like five grand to lose in the first round and you can buy a lot of stuff with that."...From The Times Online on a British mixed doubles hook-up at Wimbledon: "Mel South was so bashful that she resorted to the friendship website Facebook to ask Alex Bogdanovic if he would consider playing. Now of course Boggo, as he is known to the inner circle of British tennis players, is not quite a catch in the Federer/ Nadal/ Roddick/ Djokovic bracket but Miss South was more than delighted with the news and the subsequent success has been more than rewarding. "It's quite embarrassing how we came about playing," admitted South who briefly was a national heroine at last year's Wimbledon by beating 11th seed Francesca Schiavone but suffered a spate of first round losses early this year, failing to win a match in the qualifying competitions for either of the other grand-slam tournaments in Australia and France. "We've known each other for quite a while but I didn't know whether he would be interested in playing mixed so rather than ask him face to face I sent a message on Facebook. And the answer came back yes, which was great."