Venus on a different planet

Venus Williams stood in the middle of Centre Court, clutched the Venus Rosewater Dish to her chest and giggled like a schoolgirl following her 6-4 6-1 victory over Marion Bartoli.

She had won the Wimbledon singles trophy for the fourth time and joined a pantheon of greatness in the Open era which comprises Martina Navratilova, Billie-Jean King and Steffi Graf. Later Williams predicted the tennis world would soon be witnessing all-Williams finals again as she attempted to catch sister Serena's tally of eight Grand Slams.

"It's my sixth Slam and I want some more," Venus said. "When it comes to Wimbledon I have more but on the overall count I have less (than Serena). We motivate each other. We love each other and inspire each other like that. A Williams final could happen again."

In fact Venus, who took months out of the game last year battling a wrist injury, trails Serena's Grand Slam tally by two but she is the first to benefit from Wimbledon's decision to offer equal prize money, which means she picked up £700,000 for her afternoon's work.

And while she will not be keeping her latest trophy by her bed, as she did her last one in 2005, it still has a special place for her.

"This one is different," she said. "In the others I was playing championship form from day one. In this one I had to overcome challenges like being seeded low. It's wonderful.

"I was so glad it was the last match because I was done. I'm very tired but I feel on top of the world."