For a moment it looked like Serena Williams, who'd left a trail of dominant performances in her wake on her way to the 2012 Olympic Women's Tennis Final, was nervous ahead of her gold medal match with Maria Sharapova. A series of bathroom breaks made for a strange prelude to the match, and she drew boos for the 20-minute delay that began the action at Wimbledon.
Then she started playing tennis. In about an hour it was all over, with Williams up 6-0 6-1 and joining her sister Venus on the short list of gold medalists in women's tennis. She was nothing if not giddy after the match—oh my gosh, she said, and little else—and after a performance like that I'm not sure anyone will begrudge it of her.
She's not done, either—she's still got the women's doubles tournament ahead of her, where she and Venus will take on Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova, who have to be a little concerned after watching what just happened to their Russian teammate.