AFP
London, July 9

Singles finalists Venus and Serena Williams remained on course for a Wimbledon double Sunday.

Serena fulfilled a lifetime dream by sweeping past her elder sister and securing membership of one of the most exclusive clubs in tennis, and then the pair advanced past Anna Kournikova and Chanda Rubin in the doubles.

The American duo, the 2000 Wimbledon doubles champions, are due on Centre Court again after the men's final between top seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and David Nalbandian, the 28th seed from Argentina.

The third-seeded Williams' will take on Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual and Argentina's Paola Suarez, the second seeds, in Sunday's final.

Serena's 78-minute, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 victory over Venus not only won her the prestigious Venus Rosewater Dish but also the champion's privilege of lifetime honorary membership of the All England Club.

"I'm waiting for the pin, all the members have the pin," Serena said. "So I'm waiting for it and I'm really excited to get it."

The 20-year-old, who also got the better of Venus in the French Open final last month, claimed she had extra drive to win Wimbledon since her quarter-final defeat last year by Jennifer Capriati.

"I'm a different person mentally and I'm stronger. I seem to have more experience under my belt," she said.

"Last year at Wimbledon that was a really tough loss, it really was. I sometimes wonder if I hadn't lost, whether things would be different now.

"I wanted to win so bad and I kept thinking to myself, 'Okay Serena, just stay calm. She already has two Wimbledons. Try to fight'. And I really played good today."

Serena's win was her fourth out of nine professional meetings with her sister and it came in the best match the pair have played together.

Her victory underlined her position as the new world number one - a title she would have taken from Venus even if she had lost the final.

But Serena admitted she still often looked up to her sister - the elder by one year and three months - as the better player.

She added: "I just always believe that the way Venus plays at times, it is impossible to beat her. Sometimes even in practice I'm really fighting just to get the ball back.

"Sometimes I don't even think I'm a good enough partner for her because of the way she's playing against me."

While Serena celebrated a win Venus was despondent at seeing her 24-month reign as Wimbledon champion come to an end.

She struggled with a shoulder problem and found her serve - the fastest in the women's game - broken four times.

Venus said: "I still feel that I am in a dominant position but it's virtually impossible to win every match. I aspire to do so but it doesn't always happen.

"But it's great to see Serena doing well because for a while there she wasn't doing her best. Now I think she has to feel better and she's taken full advantage of her career."

Venus went on to dismiss the suggestions by some critics - including the sisters' vanquished semi-final opponents Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin - that their dominance was bad for the game.

Venus said: "I think we get a lot of attention not just for women's tennis but for tennis in general. People are watching tennis now."

This was their second consecutive Grand Slam final meeting and will have been watched at home in Miami by their extrovert father Richard.

Serena added: "My dad always said that one day we would be playing in the final at Wimbledon, the US Open, the big ones.

"It's amazing really because of my dad and my mum. It's hard to get one champion, but now they have two. And this is unbelievable really."