Venus and Serena Williams faced each other in the final of a Grand Slam for the first time in five years on Saurday. This blockbuster Wimbledon match was a long time coming (they last met for a Grand Slam title at SW19 in 2003) but it certainly was worth waiting with Venus prevailing in straight sets.

This match  was one of high quality despite windy conditions. It featured hard-serving, pounding ground strokes and some fine volleying. It also featured intense competitiveness with both players definitely giving everything they had - and it was easy to see both of them wanted so badly to win.

Venus beat her younger sister 7-5, 6-4 to become a five-time Wimbledon winner and successfully defend the title she came out of nowhere to win here last summer.

Over the last two weeks, tennis fans have had the privilege to see Venus and Serena play outstanding and dominating tennis. There are no issues with their fitness, no injury issues - just a flat-out green light for both older and younger sister to play the calibre of supreme tennis their abundant talent can produce.

I wondered yesterday for the first time  if they should be considered two of the all-time greats in the game. Some people take issue with this - and they do so primarily on the basis that the sisters don’t play nearly as many tournaments as do most of the other elite player. But that’s not what I believe to be the true barometer when it comes to determining the greats of the sport.

I do believe it is OK to make such a statement based on a player’s performance in the Grand Slam events (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open). The majors are to tennis like the World Cup is to soccer, the Super Bowl to American football, the NBA finals to basketball.  It’s the grand stage and if a player is a true great, she or he needs to perform on that stage like a champion - and not just once but many times over the course of a career.

Serena has won the singles title at eight Grand Slam events and she’s been to the final in 11 majors. Venus has seven Grand Slam titles and she’s made the final in 13 majors. Those achievements without question speak volumes as to the lofty place for both sisters in the history of tennis. Serena even admitted that Venus and she are starting to think about their place in the annals of the sport. And they should, given all they have achieved while also maintaining interests away from the sport. There’s also a solid possibility more is to come from the sisters at majors since Venus is 28 and Serena 26.

As for Wimbledon, three players come to my mind as this major’s elite of recent times - Billie Jean King won the title here six times, Steffi Graf on seven occasions and Martina Navratilova an amazing nine times.

Interestingly, Venus’s game in no way resembles the games of any of those three great players. Both King and Navratilova came from a different era when players couldn’t wait to visit the net. Incredible serve-and-volley talents, there’s no surprise that they account for 15 Wimbledon singles titles between them.

As for Graf, she was a different player to Venus because she had the monstrous forehand and slice backhand. That sliced backhand wasn’t delivering winners, but it was sending balls back very low, which helped her set up points.

Venus has a very different style - hers is today’s style where she has a big serve, hits power shots from the baseline and only occasionally ventures to the net.

Most believe it would be extremely unlikely for Venus ever to challenge Navratilova’s nine Wimbledon titles - but after winning her fifth crown she is at least allowing herself to dream that she might one day equal Martina's record. That’s a dream that Venus could one day make come true. She has to be feeling that and it won’t be easy but Wimbledon is so special to her and she elevates her game to such a high level here that it can’t be ruled out.

Despite her loss, Serena must see getting to the final as a big confidence boost for she hadn’t been in the last singles match at a major since winning the 2007 Australian Open. She’s won three titles this year and is heading into a summer filled with opportunities, especially at the Olympics and the US Open.

Venus played the big points better and steadier. She always puts pressure on an opponent with her serve, tracking balls down and hitting so hard that she made it very difficult for Serena to take advantage of all but two of the 13 break points she had. Serena, in contrast, often seemed lost as to what to do, what would be the better shot selection at the particular time - and she didn’t always make the right choice.

This was obviously a match of conflicting emotions for the sisters and I suspect that Serena maybe felt those emotions a bit more than Venus did. This was the kind of match that historically in a second set Serena would be digging in deeper. Instead, she just seemed to start fading away.

That wasn’t good for her but if both she and Venus continue to play at the level they displayed on the lawns, the younger sister should have a bunch of future chances at reversing the outcome of this Wimbledon final. That’s good for Serena but most of all it’s great for women’s tennis that these two players could play the grand stage many more times before the hang up their rackets.

With Justine Henin just retired, and the unknown future of who will be world No.1 at the end of the year between Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova, the Williams sisters are picking at the right time to maybe restore order when November comes.