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Williams powers to fourth Wimbledon title

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Serena Williams claims fourth Wimbledon ladies singles title beating Vera Zvonareva
  • Number one seed rarely troubled by Russian in straight sets victory 6-3 6-2
  • Victory takes Williams career Grand Slam singles titles to 13
  • Zvonareva suffered more disappointment when she lost in doubles final later in day

London, England (CNN) -- Serena Williams has successfully defended her Wimbledon title beating Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-3 6-2 in a one-sided ladies singles final at the All England Club in London.

The victory is Williams' fourth Wimbledon singles title and her 13th overall in Grand Slams.

The early exchanges on Centre Court promised a more even contest as both women held their opening service games without alarm.

It wasn't until the sixth game of the match that Williams was handed a chance to break Zvonareva's serve, but the Russian held her nerve to thwart the increasing dominant American.

Video: Serena Williams on latest title
Video: Williams wins fourth title
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But another chance presented itself just two games later. This time the number one seed made no mistake clinching the game with a running passing shot past the Zvonareva's flailing racquet.

Williams duly served out the set with ease, winning it 6-3.

Any chance of a comeback faded quickly for Zvonareva, the 21st seed, as she lost her opening service game in the second set as she forced a passing shot into the net on break point.

Williams broke the Russian's serve again in the fifth game and followed it up with a dominant service game to take her to the brink of victory.

Zvonareva, who was playing in her first Grand Slam title, delayed the inevitable by holding serve in the seventh game. But Williams, playing in her sixth Wimbledon singles final, made no mistakes in the eighth game serving out to love to take the set 6-2, completing the match in just 67 minutes.

"I just feel like at Wimbledon, whenever I come on this grass and play on this amazing court I start serving well. Everyone's dreams can come true if you keep believing," Williams added, AFP reported.

"This one is very special. This is number 13 for me now. I would like to congratulate Vera. She's been through so much in the past year," Williams told BBC Sport.

The win moves Williams up to sixth place, ahead of Billie Jean King, on the all-time list of most Grand Slam titles.

Despite having knocked out three higher seeded players on her way to the final, including Jelena Jankovic, seeded four, and U.S. Open champion and eighth seed Kim Clijsters, Williams had too much strength for the 25-year-old, whose career has been blighted by injuries.

"I think I'm a little disappointed that maybe I wasn't able to show my best today. But I think Serena didn't allow me to show my best. Congratulations to her. She was just playing really well and deserved to win. She is a great champion," Zvonareva told BBC Sport.

The 25-year-old suffered more heartbreak in the final match in the day as she lost in the doubles final with fellow Russian Elena Vesnina, beaten 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 by American Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Zvonareva broke down in tears after losing the first-set tie-break, and then again at the end of the match.

She became only the second woman in the past 20 years to lose two Wimbledon finals in one day, along with Jana Novotna (1993).

The men's doubles final followed Williams and Zvonareva on Centre Court and was won by Austrian Jurgen Melzer and Germany's Philipp Petzschner.

The unseeded pairing beat 16th seeds, Swede Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau from Romania in straight sets 6-1 7-5 7-5.

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