MAYBE the very suggestion of collusion spurred them on, for if there was a pact between the sisters it was to put on a display, a real match.

They did it, for there was plenty of competitive endeavour, loads of power, as well as some clenched fists. In fact the wind was a bigger handicap to a quality encounter than sibling love. It swirled awkwardly around, so much in fact that one Serena lob went all round the parish before landing in court. Venus dispatched it with venom. Unlike so many of the leading women players left around today, she knows her way around a grass court. She can even volley.

But a good final could not cover up the depressing fact that women’s tennis has gone back five years and more. Five years ago, the sisters contested the final. They were no better yesterday, but remain far ahead of the field when they put their minds to it, especially in the grass-court game.

There was one difference between then and now. In 2003, they warmed up together under the supervision of their father, Richard. This time they had separate warm-ups. Richard had returned home to Florida, saying his job was done. “No matter what happens he’s for sure going to be a winner,” Serena said before the match, and of course he was.

What he has won is not just Wimbledon; he has conquered the whole world of women’s tennis. He did it long ago and he is still doing it. Take away his daughters, who are no longer full-time players, and you need to rummage around the cupboard to find anything of real value. The top seeds at Wimbledon capitulated one by one and handed the trophy and the prizemoney to the Williams sisters. You can hardly blame them for snatching both. Venus received £750,000, Serena £375,000 as runner-up.

Larry Scott, the chief executive officer of the Women’s Tennis Association, who was a guest in the Royal Box, did his smooth best in a press briefing to assure the world that all is well with his Tour. “I certainly think it's the best it’s ever been in terms of personalities competing at the ends of tournaments,” he said.

Some of his companions in the box might have raised an eyebrow at that. Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, who were also there, have done more than anyone to promote the cause of women’s tennis, both by performance and argument. And they must know the shortcomings.

One of their chief issues has been equal prize-money, which has been achieved this year at Wimbledon. Whether it is justified or not, the timing is unfortunate, for never has the gulf between the men’s and women’s games in terms of standard, and the sheer effort needed for success, been more exaggerated. Today’s men’s final could be the best there has ever been in terms of quality and the physical demands. The women’s final by comparison was interesting but tame.

The presence of King and Navratilova was also a reminder that the women’s game has become stereotyped. They were mistresses of the volley, of the sliced approach and the dash to the net to conclude the point. It is a thrilling tactic but largely

obsolete. The Williams sisters at least make a fist of attempting net-attacks, and Venus in particular was willing to counter Serena’s barrages by going forward to blunt them with the counter-punched volley.

But almost universally, it is the hard-court baseline game that holds sway. Serving and ground-strokes are just about all that count, all that is taught. And even though the skills that need to be mastered are limited, most of the top players fail. Here, the premature retirement of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin have been particularly hard blows to the women's game, for their replacements at the head of the rankings have been woefully inadequate.

Perhaps the most embarrassing fact is that tomorrow, when the readjusted rankings come out, the world No 1 will still be Ana Ivanovic, the winsome Serb and French Open champion who lost so tamely to Zheng Jie in the third round. As far as the skills and techniques of grass-court tennis are concerned, Ivanovic, who made the semi-finals in 2007, played like a novice. Any ball bashed deep to her backhand was too much for her.

Maria Sharapova, who at least professes a liking for grass, and who was the betting favourite for the title, was equally poor as she crashed out in the second round. Jelena Jankovic, the No 2 in the world, managed to get through to the fourth round, but only to lose lamely to Tamarine Tanasugarn, the unseeded Thai.

There has been a particularly steep decline in the game in the United States, among men and women. At the start of the second week here only two Americans remained in the singles competitions: the Williams sisters.

In the men’s tournament, the eight players who competed in the quarter-finals were all from Europe. The traditional countries of strength, such as Australia and the United States, are falling behind badly. That should be a matter of concern for all the game’s authorities. But it is the women’s game that is in a period of serious and general decline. Wanted: new champions, and ones who can really play the beautiful game.