• Wimbledon, Day 13

Serena sinks Radwanska for fifth Wimbledon crown

Serena Williams had not won a grand slam since Wimbledon in 2010 © PA Photos

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Serena Williams ended a two-year grand slam title drought as she survived a comeback from Agnieszka Radwanska to win a fifth singles title at Wimbledon.

Radwanska, who has been suffering with a respiratory infection, initially struggled to cope with the American's power as she was outplayed in the opening set, but ultimately made Williams work for her 6-1 5-7 6-2 victory on Centre Court.

Williams looked to be cruising when she breezed through the opening set and grabbed an early break in the second, but Radwanska, playing in her first major final, fought back to take the American to a third set.

But Williams' experience saw her over the finish line to equal her sister Venus with five titles at the All England Club and take her overall tally to 14 majors.

Playing in her first Wimbledon final since her serious health scare last year, Williams' power threatened to overwhelm Radwanska as she raced to a 5-0 lead, rattling through her service games with ease and putting the Pole under pressure on every point.

The former world No. 1 attacked every second serve with venom, and a backhand winner saw her storm to a double break as Radwanska struggled to get a footing in the match.

The biggest cheer of the afternoon came when Radwanska staved off two set points to hold serve, although the damage was already done as Williams rattled through the opening set.

With Williams firmly in the ascendancy, Radwanska was boosted by the arrival of a brief rain shower at the end of the first set which allowed her to regroup. Needing to make a bright start after the delay, Radwanska opened the second set with a confidence-boosting service game, but as Williams responded with ease, the Pole was broken for a third time in the match as the sixth seed took a step closer to her fifth Wimbledon crown.

With nothing to lose, Radwanska began to loosen up, and after keeping herself in contention at 2-3, she began to put the angled balls into the corners to make her opponent work for every point.

A glorious backhand down the line saw Radwanska have the chance to claw her way back in the match, and despite a successful Hawk-Eye challenge on an ace from Williams, the Pole levelled when Williams fired a forehand long.

As Radwanska's confidence soared a love service hold put the pressure on Williams, serving to stay in the set at 6-5. Williams, who had not won a major title since her 2010 Wimbledon victory, showed signs of nerves with a double fault and a pair of errors saw the Pole snatch the set to force a decider.

While Radwanska nervously hung on to her opening service game, four back-to-back aces from Williams set the tone for the final set, and she pounced on a weak second serve to break in the fifth game. That dented Radwanska's resolve, and the Pole surrendered a second break as Williams streaked away to secure victory in two hours and two minutes.

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