The quality was worthy of a three set title decider, but there was no way Serena Williams was having any of that.

She and Angelique Kerber both appropriately played their best tennis of the tournament in the Wimbledon final, drawing excellence of strokeplay and athleticism from one another, but having broken her German opponent’s serve in the 12th game to claim the first set, the American did so again in the eighth game of the second, then blasted home her advantage.

When the final point was won, she fell onto her back, hugged her opponent warmly at the net, then took centre stage, raising both hands in what would once have been termed Churchillian victory salutes, but those two raised fingers on each indicated something more specific.

What was that tosh she came out with the other day? “My goal has never been 22. I don’t talk about that any more.”

Williams was more than happy to discuss it yesterday as, a year after getting within one victory of matching Steffi Graf’s open era record of 22 Grand Slam wins, but having surprisingly stumbled in the semi-final of the ensuing US Open and then in the finals of both the Australian and French Opens this year, she not only reached that mark but also drew level with another of Graf’s landmarks with a seventh Wimbledon singles win.

“It’s been incredibly difficult not to think about it,” she told the crowd during her on court interview.

“I had a couple of tries and lost to two great opponents. It makes it all the sweeter. Thank you for being out here to see number 22.”

As attention shifted to whether she might now beat Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles wins, perhaps even Martina Navratilova’s haul of nine Wimbledon successes, Williams admitted that catching up with Graf has played on her mind over the past year.

“I have definitely had some sleepless nights, if I'm just honest, with a lot of stuff. Coming so close. Feeling it, not being able to quite get there,” she admitted.

“I’m definitely so excited to win Wimbledon. You know, that's always a great feeling, but maybe even more so is the excitement of getting 22, you know, trying so hard to get there, finally being able to match history, which is pretty awesome.”

Defending her compatriot’s record Kerber - as she had so impressively in Melbourne when winning her first Grand Slam title by beating Williams in the Australian Open final - had made something of a statement at the outset, ending a testing first rally with a clean forehand winner down the line.

The response was as emphatic as Williams blasted a flat backhand past Kerber and three points later an ace clinched that game to 15.

By contrast Kerber saved three break points on her first service game and only took it as a result of a lot of resilience and a bit of good fortune, the shot which forced the error having clipped the net with Williams closing in on it. The German woman’s task was clearly to hold on and seek to let Hurricane Serena blow out which she almost seemed to accomplish, getting to the stage late in the set where, moving better and striking the ball more cleanly and consistently than at any point in her match against Williams’ older sister Venus in the semi-final, she was now able to take her opponent to deuces on successive service games.

However Williams finally forced the break, driving Kerber so far wide to her forehand side on set point that for once she could not quite get enough of her racquet onto the ball and having raced to net to cover Williams stood over it, series of double fist pumps accompanying the shriek she directed at her contingent on the players’ balcony. 7-5.

By the time they started the second set 49 mins had elapsed… a minute longer than Williams had been on court in the entirety of her semi-final rout of Elena Vesnina, but Kerber was never going to fold as others had in previous rounds, if anything raising her game and challenging the defending champion to do likewise.

Unlike when they met in Melbourne in January she did not flinch at the prospect, breaking her opponent’s resolve once and for all in that eighth game and giving her no chance to respond.

“In Melbourne I thought I played well, but honestly Angelique played great, she played better. She just played really good tennis, so I knew that going into this one, I just needed to keep calm, be confident, just play the tennis that I've been playing for well over a decade,” was Williams’ post-match analysis.

Kerber, poised to achieve a new ranking of number two in the world on the back of this tournament, duly paid tribute to the woman who looks set to prove herself to be the greatest singles player ever, by accepting that her own best had just not been good enough.

“I think I played what I could today,” said Kerber. At the end I was trying everything, but she deserved it. She really played an unbelievable match. I think we both play on a really high level.

“I think I was not the one who lost the match, I think she won the match. Just one can win, and today Serena deserved it.

“After this amazing two weeks, I just can say that I give everything. Of course, I'm disappointed, but at the end I'm also proud about that what I did. I reached my second Grand Slam final in this year. It was an amazing final. It was a great atmosphere out there. I will never forget the feeling.”