Serena Williams turned the tables on sister Venus to win her third Wimbledon title with a 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 victory on Centre Court.

The pair also met in last year's final, when Venus won her fifth title and second in a row.

But Serena had come out on top in their two previous meetings in the SW19 showpiece in 2002 and 2003 and so that proved the outcome again today.

The 27-year-old, who now has 11 grand slam singles titles, looked marginally the more threatening player in the opening set and played a stunning tie-break to move in front.

The second set was a much more one-sided affair as Serena won four games in a row to clinch victory - the eighth Williams triumph of the last 10 years.

The new champion said: "It feels so amazing, I feel so blessed, I feel like I shouldn't be holding the trophy, like I can't believe I won and not Venus."

The runner-up, meanwhile, admitted she had been outplayed by arguably the toughest competitor on the women's tour.

"Today she was too good," said 29-year-old Venus. "She had answers for everything, she played the best tennis today."

The sisters were meeting for the eighth time in grand slam finals, with Serena having won five going into today's match.

Venus began with a double fault but both players easily held serve in the early stages.

The third seed had by far the more comfortable run to the final, dropping only 20 games, while Serena had to save a match point in her semi-final win over Elena Dementieva.

It was Serena who was looking marginally the more confident though, hitting four aces in her first three service games.

That changed in the eighth game when Serena found herself down 15-40 but a pass that flew narrowly long from Venus let her off the hook, and she responded with two aces to hold.

The rallies were becoming increasingly ferocious but neither player could steal an advantage and the first set went into a tie-break.

Serena gained the first mini-break to move 3-1 in front and the second seed took the initiative by coming out on top of a brutal rally to make it 6-2.

She thought she had wrapped it up the next point but a Hawk-Eye challenge from Venus showed the ball was out. There was no way back a point later, though, as a stunning lob clinched it 7-3 for Serena.

As well as putting her within touching distance of a third Wimbledon title, Serena's first-set triumph also ended Venus' run of consecutive sets won at the All England Club at 34 - stretching back to the third round in 2007.

The sisters were also playing for head-to-head supremacy, with their record tied at 10-10 at the start of play.

Serena took the momentum into the second set, dropping only two points on serve in the opening three games.

And she gained the first break of the match in the sixth game when Venus, who was struggling to make first serves, double-faulted on break point.

The confidence appeared to be draining out of the five-time champion, while Serena continued to serve faultlessly, taking her tally of aces to 12 and opening up a 5-2 lead.

Another double fault put Venus immediately under pressure as she served to stay in contention and four points later a wayward forehand gave Serena a first match point.

A brave second serve from Venus saved that one but another quickly followed as Serena again came out on top of a baseline exchange.

Serena strangely opted not to go for the kill on a short forehand and she then netted as Venus hung on by her fingernails.

A third match point came and went but on the fourth Venus netted with a backhand and Serena was left to celebrate her first Wimbledon singles triumph for six years.

SERENA WILLIAMS FACTFILE

1981: Born September 26 in Saginaw, Michigan.

1995: Turns professional in September. Loses first professional match - as a wild card in Quebec - to Annie Miller 6-1 6-1.

1997: Reaches first major semi-final, in Chicago.

1998: Wins Wimbledon and US Open mixed doubles title with Max Mirnyi.

1999: Aged 17, wins first grand slam at US Open. Also takes singles victories at Paris Indoors, Indian Wells and Los Angeles. Serena and sister Venus become the first sisters to meet in a WTA Tour final, Venus winning in Miami. Joins forces with Venus to become the first sisters in the 20th century to win a grand slam doubles title at US Open. Named in the United States' Fed Cup team.

2000: Wins Olympic gold with Venus in doubles, the first sisters to do so. In singles clinches victories at Hannover, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Seals first Wimbledon title, the doubles alongside Venus - but loses to her sister in singles semi-final.

2001: Wins Australian Open doubles with Venus. Wins the WTA season-ending championships and takes titles at Indian Wells and the Canadian Open, but loses US Open final to her sister.

2002: Wins French Open and also takes titles at Miami, Scottsdale and the Italian Open. Establishes herself as world number one for the first time on her way to Wimbledon final against Venus as they become first sisters to contest the final since 1884.

July - Beats Venus in straight sets to become new Wimbledon women's champion and combines with her sister to win doubles title.

Wins US Open, her third consecutive grand slam, but is beaten by Kim Clijsters in the WTA Tour finals.

2003: Holds all four grand slam titles at same time when she wins the Australian Open, again beating her sister, whom she partners to claim the doubles title. Also wins WTA titles in Paris and Miami.

Her 21-match winning streak is ended by straight-sets defeat to Justine Henin at Charleston in April, with the Belgian also claiming a controversial win in the semi-finals of the French Open, which ended Serena's grand slam winning-run at 33 matches.

July - wins Wimbledon for second year in a row with a 4-6 6-4 6-2 defeat of her sister in the final.

August - Has surgery on knee injury.

Misses US Open and season-ending WTA Championships.

Loses number-one ranking to Kim Clijsters and falls to number three, the first time out of top two since June 2002.

2004: Recovery process from knee injury keeps Williams out of Australian Open.

March - First tournament since Wimbledon 2003, Williams wins Miami singles title.

May - Beaten by Jennifer Capriati both in semi-finals at Rome and then in the quarter-finals of the French Open.

June - Drops outside top 10 of the world rankings for first time in almost five years.

July - Returns to Wimbledon as defending champion and number one seed but loses her crown to teenage sensation Maria Sharapova in the final.

2005: January - Beats fellow American Lindsay Davenport 2-6 6-3 6-0 to win the Australian Open.

June - Loses 6-3 7-6 against world number 85 Jill Craybas to exit Wimbledon in the third round.

2007: January - Despite a ranking of 81, storms through the field to win the Australian Open. She beats six seeds to win the title, including top seed Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-2 in the final.

2008: July 5 - Beaten 7-5 6-4 by sister Venus in the Wimbledon final. The pair also team up to win the doubles title.

August - Serena and Venus Williams win Olympic gold medal in doubles.

September - Wins US Open title, beating Jelena Jankovic 6-4 7-5.

2009: February - Wins Australian Open, thrashing Dinara Safina 6-0 6-3. Serena and Venus also win the doubles title.

July 4 - Beats Venus 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 in the Wimbledon final, having saved match point in semi-final against Elena Dementieva.