Number five was what mattered most says Venus

By Rex Gowar

LONDON (Reuters) - Champion Venus Williams was excited by the significance of winning her fifth Wimbledon title on Saturday and allowed herself to dream she might one day equal Martina Navratilova's record of nine.

"Oh, my God, it's five. Wow...That was the first thing that popped into my head," she said of the moment she beat younger sister Serena in the Centre Court final for her seventh grand slam title.

"Winning this tournament so many times puts you in the stratosphere," Venus said after joining a select band of players, including Navratilova and Steffi Graf, who have won at least five titles at the All England Club.

"Had I had this achievement at any other tournament, it would have been awesome, but it's not really the same as winning at Wimbledon because of the prestige of this event," she said.

Asked about trying to emulate Navratilova, she said with a gasp: "The would be the ultimate. That's not easy.

"Also, her career spanned like three decades so I'm not sure I have that much time," said the 28-year-old, who won her previous titles in 2000, 2001, 2005 and last year.

But she added: "If I did I would definitely dream of that."

She said she would have been happy for twice champion Serena if the younger Williams had beaten her and won her third Wimbledon title on Saturday.