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Serena wins all-Williams final

Author: Rose Young
Date: 06/07/2009

Serena came out on top in the battle of the Williams sisters as she overcame sibling Venus to win her third Wimbledon singles title.

Serena was a 7-6 6-2 winner in front of a packed Centre Court to deny pre-final betting favourite Venus the chance of becoming the first player since Steffi Graf to win three successive Wimbledon singles titles.

She also takes an 11-10 lead over Venus in head-to-head contests.

The reigning US Open, Australian Open and now Wimbledon singles champion has now won 21 Grand Slam titles.

The British & Irish Lions restored pride in the red jersey as they produced a commanding performance to beat South Africa 28-9 in the final Test in Johannesburg.

Ian McGeechan's side found themselves 2-0 down in the three-match series despite producing performances in the first two Tests which could have been match-winning efforts.

But a terrific forwards display saw the Lions control the dead-rubber game to avoid making history for the wrong reasons with a 3-0 series whitewash.

Ugo Monye's brilliant 80-metre interception try virtually sealed the win, before two late penalties from Stephen Jones rubbed salt in the wounds of the South Africans.

Earlier, Shane Williams claimed two tries as the Lions ended a disappointing tour with a flourish.

In cricket, Australia drew their final warm-up match before the Ashes begins next week following a four-day encounter with a spirited England Lions side in Worcester.

The tourists declared their second innings on 438-4 at the lunch interval and set the Lions a victory target of 445. The decision left Marcus North stranded just short of a double century on 191.

However, the Lions held firm in the final two sessions of the day to deny Australia a victory ahead of the Ashes, which begins in Cardiff on Wednesday.

The Lions closed on 162-4 with Joe Denly top-scoring with an innings of 36.

Can Australia successfully retain the Ashes? - Latest cricket betting

In Super League, Leeds Rhinos moved to within two points of league leaders St Helens by beating Hull 43-30 at the KC Stadium.

Keith Senior scored one of Brian McClennan's side's seven tries as Hull slumped to their 12th defeat in 15 matches.

It had been one-way traffic in the first half when Leeds sprinted into a 30-6 lead and, although Hull hit back in the second half, the Rhinos were always in command.

Celtic Crusaders lost again, 22-6 to Warrington Wolves for whom full-back Richie Mathers scored two tries. The win lifted the Wolves up to seventh place in the table.

Jean-Philippe Baile's grabed a hat-trick of tries as Catalans Dragons beat high-flying Hull KR 23-12.

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