As a fully signed up member of Rena’s Army and Verena this is the perfect Final for me. My absolute hero against her older Sister who I have the utmost respect for. Even I was surprised how up for this Serena was today. She did a proper number on her racket in only the third game of the match, anyone who has played Tennis will appreciate that is no mean feat. That is pumped make no mistake about it, this isn’t at 5/5 in the decider, I think it helped her relax in the long run . A fair bit of tension must of been released at that moment. There were four breaks in a row at the start of the match, Venus getting a lot of success in attacking the second serve early on. The opening was a mixture of brilliance and errors with both players chucking in a few more doubles than normal on serve. Both knew they had to go for a bit more though here as the first blow in the rally was vital. There was never going to be much ‘pitta patta’ here. Both  players had been a bit patchy. They both settled after this. The Serena serve out wide was starting to score a few cheap points by  this time.After Serena had broke Venus once again at 3/3, she relaxed and started to hit through her remaining nerves. She didn’t lose her serve after the fourth game of the match, this was one of the main beneficiaries and the rest just started to fall into place. There was also the look in the eye, Rena saw this as a mission today, fist pumps were also seen regularly from an early stage. She just loves to be written off, then come back and stick it up everyone. I absolutely love it! It what’s makes her the undisputed greatest of all time (goat). Serena wasn’t at her best today, but she’s an unbelievable match player. The deciding break of the first set came about with a deft touch at the net and firing a backhand winner down the line, both coming off the back of blistering returns . These two points at 30-30 on Venus’s serve. The set was served out to love with a  trademark ace. That my friend is stepping it up! Venus came out strongly at the start of the second as well. Serving big and showing her usual heart and passion in digging herself out of a 0-40 situation in the third game. Big time hitting here protecting her serve. In the 7th game Serena let rip on another backhand winner cross court, to get the  first and last break of match. She served it out, finishing with another crushing backhand cross court which did the damage, setting up the  point which led to a forehand Venus could only put in the tramlines. The celebration was muted, in total respect for her Sister and you cant knock that. What a great moment seeing Venus back here. Its impossible not to like her , she’s been through a lot and to have got back to a Final now its a remarkable achievement. A bits been made about Venus hadn’t had to really beat a top name to get here. In name that maybe true, but both Pavlyuchenkova and Vandweghe were playing well above their rankings. Lets not forget that Vandeweghe absolutely handed it to the soon to be world number two Angie Kerber and the French Champion Garbine Muguruza. You can only beat what’s put in front of you. Nobody could point that at Serena who made mince meat of her nasty looking draw. After drawing Bencic in the first round she knew she had to be on it from the word go. She stepped it up against Konta when a genuine contender was put in front of  her whilst others flaked and wilted. I saw her interview on American Tele after. You can tell she’s champing at the bit for Roland Garros and as she said “Wimbledon could be interesting” with a cheeky look. Margaret Court’s 24 is now in touching distance and that would extinguish any debate. Not that there has been with me for quite sometime now. Michael Jordan also sent her a pair of her own Air Jordan 23 shoes, she looks boss in them! Lets hope the French brings more success its all going to be about keeping injury free. So I’m a  happy Man for the time being I can watch the Men’s Final tomorrow and enjoy the contrasting styles stress free! Serena’s won the Oz without dropping  a set!

Andy Del Potro