Saturday, 25 January, 2003 BBC Women's final: S Williams bt V Williams 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-4 Newly crowned Australian Open champion Serena Williams said she was honoured to join such elevated company after completing a full set of Grand Slam wins. Williams defeated older sister Venus to win her fourth straight major, joining Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as the only players to achieve the feat. "I can't believe that I can be compared to these women, to be in their category is really amazing," she said. "I am making history right now, it doesn't happen every day. The last person to win four was Steffi Graf. "It's been tough. All my life I've dreamt of being the best, there's been a lot of opposition. It's really special to have come such a long way." Serena, who choked back the tears as she made her acceptance speech on court, fought a tense three-set final with Venus. The younger sister was never in top form, and was grateful to some frail serving from the second seed. Venus, the first player to lose four straight Grand Slam finals, admitted that Serena had the upper hand mentally during their recent encounters. "I think right now she's just probably a little mentally tougher out there than I was today. I think maybe that's the main thing that's dropped off in me," she said. "Usually, I would just really get in there and take a match like that but when you're on top, you're on top. That's the way it is." And while Venus paid a warm tribute to her younger sister, she could not hide her disappointment at seeing another Grand Slam title slip by. "Not many people get all four Slams, so that's really wonderful, it really is," she said. "I don't like losing altogether, whether it's to Serena or any other player - it's just never fun. "I never go to the finals and say 'Yes, I'm losing today'. I'm going out there with the attitude I'm going to out there, do my best and try to take the title." Previous Page | Williams Homepage | Sports Homepage NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.