By James Borg · July 4, 2009 · 3 PM

LONDON -- Well, I know it's the Fourth of July, Independence Day and all that . . . but take a look at this line-up in the Wimbledon program for Centre Court:

-- The Final of the Ladies' Singles – Venus Williams (USA) vs. Serena Williams (USA)

-- The Final of the Gentleman's Doubles Bob Bryan (USA) & Mike Bryan (USA) vs. Daniel Nestor (Canada) & Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia)

-- The Final of the Ladies' Doubles -- Venus Williams (USA) & Serena Williams (USA) vs. Samantha Stosur (Australia) & Rennae Stubbs (Australia)

Rumors of the death of American tennis have been greatly exaggerated. Had Liezel Huber made it through in the semis of the mixed doubles, it would have been a clean sweep for the United States.

That's because of Sunday's star billing on Mens Finals Day -- Andy vs. Roger. The home crowd for the last fortnight or so had been hoping for a dream 'Roger versus Andy' final and the soothsayers had laid their cards on the table right from the beginning.

Well, they got it.

But for the millions of home fans it was the wrong Andy, as Andy Murray went out of the tournament at the hands of Andy Roddick in a thrilling semifinal, meaning that the enticing prospect of a British win 73 years after Fred Perry, remains on hold for yet another year. As a veteran tennis journalist quipped after Roddick's first tie-break win put him up two sets to one: "It's going to be 74 years now."

What about today?

Well, I can tell you that Richard Williams, father and coach to Serena and Venus had already boarded a plane before today's final between his daughters.

He told us after each of the ladies had won their semifinal match on Thursday that he was heading home "to cut the grass" as he never watches them play against each other.

They've played 21 times against each other in professional tournaments -- that must make for a well-tended patch of grass in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Perhaps they could have used his services on the scorched centre court where the last two week's temperatures at times have been recorded as high as 102 degrees (hey, isn't that Las Vegas weather?), leaving patches of the court looking decidedly bare.

Today represented the fourth time that the two have faced each other in a Wimbledon final and a repeat of last year when Venus won 7-5 6-4. It's also the 12th Wimbledon final featuring two American players -- also the third All-American final on the Fourth of July (1930 Helen Wills Moody d Elizabeth Ryan; 1953 Maureen Connolly d Doris Hart).

As far as these two sisters are concerned it has to be said again that their presence at Wimbledon has been so dominant has been that only one women's final since the year 2000 has not included a Williams. That 'aberration' was in 2006 when Amelie Muaresmo beat Justine Henin.

Serena had said that Venus was playing the best tennis having not dropped a set, losing just 19 games and spending only six and a half hours on court. For Serena, her marathon semifinal meant she’d spent two hours longer of the courts and lost one set. Venus, like Federer was chasing a sixth Wimbledon title. Serena, after her two wins in 2002 and 2003, was chasing a third.

They have their own superstitions as to how to handle the event. Despite sharing a house together near the Club, they insist on not sharing the same courtesy car to bring them here.

However, Venus made no secret of her exhilaration at the prospect of a final with her sister for a second successive year. After her tight win against Elena Dementieva of Russia in the semis -- the longest semi-final match at Wimbledon at 2 hours 49 minutes -- in which Serena saved match point, Venus said: " I definitely wanted her to win that match. It's like if she didn't then the dream doesn't come true."

Today they faced each other for the fourth time in what perhaps should be known as the ' Williamsdon’ Ladies Final. In the Royal Box, looking on, were former champions and legends including Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Maria Bueno.

The game started with Venus electing to serve and from then on the number 2 and 3 seeds matched each other blow for blow to a tiebreak. Serena was up at 5-2 in the tiebreak with four set points; she eventually took it 7-3.

So Venus had just dropped her first set since 2007. In the second set Venus's serve seemed to falter which gave an opening for her opponent to race to 5-2 after she broke with a fault at 3-2 up. With Venus serving, scraping from 0-30 to 30- 40 it was championship point to her sister. Three times she saved championship point. Finally Venus netted the ball as 27 year old younger sister Serena took the fourth match point and simultaneously fell to the ground to take her third title here 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 in straight sets. She now holds 11 Grand Slam titles and holds the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open crowns.

Talking after the match 29-year-old Venus said she had no real problems with her performance during the match: " I thought I played well today. Maybe towards the end in the second set I was a little too far behind the baseline. Serena played well too; that was the problem, especially in the tiebreak. I played a good tiebreak but she played a great one. She just played a lot of great shots today." Did losing to her sister make defeat easier to accept? "There's no 'easy' to losing, especially when you're so close to the crown."

Serena's comments about how she felt again about seeing her sister at the opposite end of the net: "I didn't think about Venus at all today during the match. She was just an opponent. Only when I looked at the scoreboard did I see a Williams and a Williams."

How and why does she handle the big points so well? "Billie Jean (King) she's my idol.... she taught me how to handle pressure." Thoughts going through her head on the last point: "Wow, I won Wimbledon. It's been so long."

Here’s a peak at Sunday’s men’s final:

The American number 6 seed broke the hearts of millions of fans as he destroyed the hopes of the talented 22-year-old Andy Murray as he wrapped up his four set 6-4 4-6 7-6 7-6 win in a subdued Centre Court.

Earlier, he had refused to be intimidated by a noisy and partisan crowd. Not that Roddick was without fans. He's a popular figure here, this 28 year old from Nebraska and many appreciate his commitment, on- and off-court demeanor and of course his supreme serving ability. It was the latter that was the key to the match as his first serve percentage was over 75 percent as he thundered down 21 aces of between 130 and 138 mph.

In the two tiebreaks of this close match, it was Roddick who came up with the goods on the first serve. Although at 5-2 ahead in the third set it looked comfortable for the American to easily clinch the set. A rejuvenated Murray, to his credit, pushed the scoreline to a tiebreak but Roddick's response was to crank up some of his first serves from 135mph to a match-high of 138 mph.

After the match a disappointed yet reflective Murray was already looking to the future: " I've had a very good year so far. I'm very close to the top of my game. The US Open I've always said is my best surface, my best chance to win a slam, and I'll give it my best shot there." He was a US Open finalist last year.

A jubilant, and at times shell-shocked Roddick, said: "I never thought that I would get the chance to play for another grand slam title, and now that I can, it's a dream."

So he's set himself up for tomorrow's Final against Roger Federer, who in the other semi-final saw off the challenge of a resurgent Tommy Haas (his practice partner) in straight sets 7-6 7-5 6-3 after dropping a mere 11 points on serve, to coast to the final in just over two hours.

So Sunday will be a re-run of the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals, when Federer destroyed the American's hopes as he won in four and three sets respectively. Just for the record, Federer has an 18-2 head to head against Roddick and will be looking for his much-publicized record-breaking 15th Grand Slam and also, of course, a sixth Wimbledon title.