World number one Serena Williams beat German fourth seed Angelique Kerber to win a seventh Wimbledon and 22nd Grand Slam title.
Kerber had beaten Williams in the Australian Open final in January but could not produce another shock.
Fourteen years since she first won Wimbledon, Williams claimed the title for a seventh time after dropping just one set all tournament.
Last year, she fell two matches short of a historic calendar Grand Slam, and she also lost in the Australian and French Open finals this year.
After her win, she said:
“It’s been incredibly difficult not to think about it,”
“It makes the victory even sweeter to know how hard I worked hard for it.
“This court definitely feels like home, I have a match later today in the doubles, so I’ll be back out.”
Williams moves alongside German great Graf in the all-time list of Grand Slam singles champions, and just two behind overall leader Margaret Court, the Australian who won 13 of her 24 major titles before tennis turned professional in 1968.
Williams had tried and failed three times to win her 22nd major title but she finally got over the line with a performance that owed as much to nerve as to skill.