Williams beat sister Venus 7-6(7-3), 6-2 and now holds three of the four majors that make up a Grand Slam. But despite her success, the 27-year-old American hit out at the current system which still sees Safina as the world No1 even though the Russian has yet to win a major.

Safina's position came under renewed fire when she was humiliated in the Wimbledon semi-finals, losing 6-1, 6-0 to Venus.

''I think if you hold three Grand Slam titles maybe you should be No1 but not on the WTA Tour obviously,'' Williams said.

''My motivation is maybe just to win another Grand Slam [event] and stay No2, I guess. It's shocking. I'd rather definitely be No2 and hold three Grand Slams in the past year than be No1 and not have any.''

Williams then mocked Safina's ascent to the top of the world rankings.

''I see myself as No2. That's where I am. I think Dinara did a great job to get to No1. She won Rome and Madrid,'' she said.

Venus, who had been hoping for a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles and sixth in total, admitted she may have got her tactics wrong in the final.

''I definitely would have liked to have moved forward. A lot of times when I had the short balls, they were low. They're really low, and it's hard to come in on those and actually hit an effective shot and come in,'' Venus said.

Venus had her chances in the first set but couldn't convert two break points she had carved out in the eighth game before her younger sister proved the more dynamic in the tiebreak.

Serena then went on to break to lead 4-2 in the second set when Venus double-faulted. AFP