Serena Williams wins her 5th Wimbledon singles title

Written By Unknown on Saturday, July 7, 2012 | 9:50 AM

Serena Williams reacts after competing her three set victory over Agnieszka Radwanska in the Wimbledon final.
Serena Williams reacts after competing her three set victory over Agnieszka Radwanska in the Wimbledon final.
  • Serena Williams wins fifth Wimbledon title
  • American beats Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1 5-7 6-2
  • Radwanska battles respiratory illness to extend the American
  • First grand slam title for Williams since 2010

(CNN) -- Serena Williams fended off a stirring fightback from Agnieszka Radwanska to win her fifth Wimbledon singles title with a 6-1 5-7 6-2 victory Saturday.

It was the 30-year-old American's 14th grand slam crown and her first since winning at SW19 in 2010, but Poland's Radwanska made her fight every inch of the way.

Suffering from a respiratory problem and trailing after a one-sided first set, Radwanska recovered from a break down in the second to give Williams a real Centre Court scare.

After leveling at one set all, Radwanska took a 2-1 lead in the decider before Williams romped to victory with a run of five straight games.

She celebrated by climbing into the stands to embrace her sister Venus and other connections.

Williams spent almost a year on the sidelines after being struck by first injury then serious illness after her fourth Wimbledon success.

But she has capped her steady return to the top with an emphatic performance on the grass courts, particularly since the quarterfinals where she dispatched reigning champion Petra Kvitova.

A semifinal win over Victoria Azarenka of the Belarus took Williams into the final, but Azarenka will have the consolation of going to the top of the new world rankings Monday.

Williams, who wins $1.78 million, is the first woman over 30 to win Wimbledon since Martina Navratilova in 1990 and has now matched the Wimbledon singles tally of her elder sister Venus.

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