WIMBLEDON, England -- The instant flicker of flashbulbs against the leaden sky created a disco-ball effect on championship point Sunday, but the moment did not move Venus Williams to spin, twirl or trip the light fantastic.

She simply walked happily to the net, offered some sympathetic words to Justine Henin of Belgium and waved into the long-lens camera that her father had aimed in her direction. Hanging over the ledge of the players' box, Richard Williams was poised to capture the afterglow of Venus' 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 victory, ready to document the completion of her second straight Wimbledon title.

A year ago, the images were very different. Richard danced atop a television booth, and the airborne Venus never touched down, floating after her first title at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. This time she was more subdued.

The excitement had not worn off, she just handled her victory differently.

After coping with the comeback gene alive inside Henin's 5-foot-53/4 frame and dealing with fans smitten by Henin, after serving with the force of a catapult and finding herself as the target of some family fatigue, Williams disarmed everyone at Center Court.

Next to the duchess of Kent, in front of the crowd, Williams expressed how impressed she was with Henin, saying: "She's a very good player, only 19. In my first Grand Slam final, I didn't even win a set. She'll be back. I just want to say congratulations to her."

A moment later, the on-court BBC commentator asked Williams about going solo to the champions dinner Sunday night since a men's title winner has not been determined. "That's the way it is," Williams said with a grin. "It's hard in the market these days."

Williams left them laughing and smiling, in awe of her charisma as well as her powerful strokes.

"Doesn't seem like that often I'm the player that the crowd wants to win," Williams said. "Who knows? Maybe there will be a day when they root for me."

A few were in her corner Sunday. They appreciated how she regrouped to begin the third set with a clenched jaw and serves of 115 mph, how she feathered a volley to set up a service break one game later, and how the 6-1 Williams stood just a little larger in history once the 20-minute third set was over.

A year ago, she became the first African-American woman to win Wimbledon since Althea Gibson.

Now she has matched Gibson's back-to-back titles, in 1957-58, and has won three Grand Slams (the other two, last year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open, were in straight sets, each over Lindsay Davenport in the final).

"More and more, she's putting herself on the map," said Zina Garrison, a former Wimbledon finalist and friend of the Williams family. "She's breaking barriers everywhere. Now she's just Venus."

But for a moment, Henin tested Williams. Henin has the compact power of a grenade.

With a slashing one-handed backhand that is unique in its look and devastating in its efficiency, she is more dangerous than she appears. And her ability to formulate a strategy on the run is her greatest strength.

Just as she did against Jennifer Capriati in the semifinals, Henin used the first set to take the measure of Williams. By the second set, Henin started acting on her mental notes.

She used a run-around forehand to cut the angles off, leaned on speed and lobs to stretch out rallies and sliced backhands low to force Williams into awkward bends for her strokes.

"I think that today I proved -- not in all the match, but during one set of it -- that size doesn't matter," said Henin, who produced 14 winners to 18 errors. "I think, yes, size may be important, but I don't think it's the most important."

On serve at 3-2 in the second set, Henin was given more time to mull over her blueprint when rain delayed play for 21 minutes.

Three games later, Henin's approach paid off. In one of Williams' few timid service games, Henin sliced a return to set up a break point at 15-40.

On the next exchange, she changed the pace, flattening out a return on a 104 mph serve and producing a backhand into the net from a startled Williams.

"When I came back at one set all, it was a great moment for me," Henin said. "For sure it was difficult after that because mentally she was stronger than me, and she had the experience I didn't."

Williams had the composure Henin didn't. Instead of melting, Williams began the third set by holding her serve at love. One game later, Williams unfolded her plan of attack. On every short ball, Williams charged into the net, where she dominated the points and picked up a large portion of her 27 winners.

Suddenly, Henin was fighting to save three break points. Worn down by Williams' unrelenting pressure, Henin could not rescue the game.

With Williams looming at the net, Henin ripped a backhand passing shot below the tape. As the set progressed, Henin's unforced errors grew and her patience thinned.

Now Williams had little to prove. No one doubted her talent, only her attention span for tennis.

But on grass, where the points go quickly, Williams has had the perfect temperament for Center Court.

"I think it's going to be a great place for me, for years to come," she said.

Women's title streaks

Women who have won consecutive Wimbledon singles titles:

6 -- Martina Navratilova, 1982-1987.

5 -- Suzanne Lenglen, 1919-1923.

4 -- Helen Wills Moody, 1927-1930.

3 -- Lottie Dod, 1891-93; Louise Brough, 1948-50; Maureen Connolly, 1952-54; Billie Jean King, 1966-68; Steffi Graf, 1991-93.

2 -- Maud Watson, 1884-85; Lottie Dod, 1887-88; Charlotte Cooper, 1895-96; Blanche Bingley-Hillyard, 1899-00; Dorothea Douglass, 1903-04, 1910-11, 1913-14; Helen Wills Moody, 1932-33; Althea Gibson, 1957-58; Maria Bueno, 1959-60; Billie Jean King, 1972-73; Martina Navratilova, 1978-79; Steffi Graf, 1988-89, 1995-96; Venus Williams, 2000-01.

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