The two arguably greatest female tennis players
ever Steffi Graf of Germany and Martina Navratilova originally of the former Czechoslovakia won the Wimbledon singles title
7 and 9 times respectively.
Williams' younger sister Serena Williams, whom Williams paired with today for a doubles round one victory, won the singles
title in 2002 and 2003.
After first dropping the starting two games of the match against Cavady, Williams reached 1-2 before falling to 1-3.
Taking the next three games in a row, Williams went ahead 4-3. But delivering a mix of winners and errors, Williams soon
found herself all even at 5-5.
The 19 year old Cavady had used a booming left-handed serve and big groundstrokes to hit with Williams until Williams
herself hit and served even bigger. Williams serving at speeds of 125 miles per hour and turning her previously errant
forehand into a weapon went ahead 6-5 with an ace down the tee.
Cavady held serve to reach the tiebreaker, hitting a crosscourt forehand winner on game point after two groundstroke
errors from Williams.
In the tiebreaker both players went for winners early but traded errors to reach 4-2 with Williams leading before Cavady
pulled even at 4-4 with a forehand down the line winner. The inexperience of Cavady proved a deciding factor as she committed
three errors to lose the tiebreaker 7-5.
In set two Williams dramatically decreased her error count while increasing her number of winners to take the last six
games of the match. A forehand down the line return winner on match point number one sealed the victory for Williams after
1 hour and 17 minutes. Williams appeared pleased to win as she waved, smiled and twirled for the Centre Court crowd.
“I felt comfortable, I felt good,” Williams said. “I always feel good on that court.”
