Top bantamweight contenders Germaine de Randamie and Aspen Ladd will be aiming to become the next challenger for Amanda Nunes' championship when they square off in Sacramento, California, tonight.

But before de Randamie, a former UFC featherweight champ, and the 8-0 Ladd meet in the UFC Fight Night main event, there are several intriguing matchups, including the return of Hall of Famer Urijah Faber.

Here's how they're going down.

Jonathan Martinez defeated Liu Pingyuan by third-round knockout

More like Mart-knee-nez.

Liu swarmed in with a combination, Martinez took a step forward and threw a straight knee and it landed on the button -- Liu was out cold. The knockout finish came at 3:54 of the third round in a very close fight up until that point.

"I pretty much just picked my knee up," Martinez said. "I just picked it up."

Martinez (11-2) has won two straight now and four of five. The 25-year-old Texas resident is 2-1 in the UFC. Liu (15-5), a 26-year-old Chinese prospect, had won 10 in a row coming in.

Brianna Van Buren defeated Lívinha Souza by unanimous decision

"The Bull" seems like a future factor in the UFC women's strawweight division.

Van Buren dominated Souza in a battle of former Invicta FC women's strawweight champions in a clear unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) victory. Van Buren landed heavy combinations in all three rounds, took Souza down in the third and looked like a well-rounded threat throughout.

Afterward, Van Buren, a Gilroy, Calif., native, called for a fight on the upcoming UFC card that will likely be in San Francisco in October.

"It would be stupid if you didn't get me on that card," Van Buren said. "I want a top-10. I know I'm asking for too much, so if you can give me whoever is willing to step up and fight me, let's get the ball rolling."

Van Buren (8-2) was making her debut after winning three fights in one night to become Invicta champion in May. The 25-year-old American Kickboxing Academy product has won five straight. Souza (13-2), the 28-year-old Brazilian, had won four in a row.

Benito Lopez defeated Vince Morales by unanimous decision

Lopez's strategy was clearly centered on leg kicks. And he executed.

Despite being dropped in the first round and being peppered with combinations, Lopez did enough for a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) win over Morales in a close bout. According to UFC stats, Lopez landed 36 leg kicks. Morales, meanwhile, out-landed Lopez 34-7 in strikes to the head.

Lopez (10-1) bounced back from a loss to Manny Bermudez last December with this victory. The 25-year-old Team Alpha Male product got chants of "Benito" -- he was the hometown favorite. Morales (9-4), a 28-year-old Oregon native, has lost two of three in the UFC.

Still to come:

Darren Elkins vs. Ryan Hall

Julianna Pena vs. Nicco Montano

Andre Fili vs. Sheymon Moraes

Mike Rodriguez vs. John Allan

Marvin Vettori vs. Cezar Ferreira

Karl Roberson vs. Wellington Turman

Josh Emmett vs. Mirsad Bektić

Urijah Faber vs. Ricky Simon

Germaine de Randamie vs. Aspen Ladd

Aspen Ladd was hiking with her dogs in the California wilderness when her manager tried to inform her she'd be headlining a UFC event for the first time.

The 24-year-old bantamweight is known for frequently losing herself on 12-mile hikes -- with "the pack," as she calls her collection of canines -- usually in areas where cell service isn't available. She knew something was up at the end of that particular hike when she opened her phone to multiple missed calls and texts.

"That's probably the biggest news I've ever missed while on a hike," Ladd told ESPN.

This weekend is a big deal for Ladd, as she could very well be one win from a UFC title shot. She'll face former featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie in the main event of Saturday's UFC Fight Night in Sacramento, which is a relatively short drive from her hometown of Pioneer, California.

Ladd (8-0) is no stranger to the fast track. She took her first amateur bout just two weeks after her 18th birthday and hasn't looked back since. The UFC is high on her potential. Within the past year, the promotion has paired her against one of its biggest stars, Holly Holm (although the matchup fell apart before the fight could take place), and now has booked Ladd in a main event.

De Randamie, 35, is in a much different stage of her career. The Dutch striker, who is 8-3 in MMA after going 37-0 in kickboxing, has missed significant time in the past two years due to hand and eye injuries, but she also is on the cusp of a title shot. And if de Randamie were to earn that shot, it would be a rematch she has long coveted. De Randamie lost to Amanda Nunes in 2013, before the Brazilian was champion.

The main event will feature a young prospect, whose accomplishments have come well ahead of her time, against an established vet, who might be running short on time. And the stakes might be nothing short of an opportunity to face the greatest female fighter of all time.

By the numbers

3: Current champions Germaine de Randamie has fought. Her pro MMA debut in 2008 was a loss to Vanessa Porto, who now reigns as Invicta FC flyweight champ. Her second career loss came in 2011 against Julia Budd, who is now Bellator's featherweight champ. And de Randamie's only other defeat was to Amanda Nunes, who before becoming UFC bantamweight and featherweight champion won by TKO over the Dutchwoman in 2013.

0: Previous UFC main card appearances by Aspen Ladd.

5.6: Significant strikes per minute by Ladd. The UFC average is 3.1.

37-0: De Randamie's record in professional kickboxing. From 2000 to 2011, she won four world championships.

5: Ladd's age when de Randamie made her pro kickboxing debut.

Source: ESPN Stats & Information research

A look back

Five vs. five

Fighting words

"It's kind of a classic matchup of grappler vs. striker. She's world-class at what she does. I'm very good at what I do. It's just going to be who can implement their game plan on fight night." --Aspen Ladd, speaking to KTXL television in Sacramento

"Let's bang it out. Let's have some fun, girl. Let's do this. I'm a fighter, but I'm an entertainer, too. A lot of people spend a lot of money to see us fight, so let's make it a fight. I believe she's a great athlete, and she going to bring a great fight to me. We're going to make one hell of a fight." --Germaine de Randamie, speaking to UFC.com

Film study

Aspen Ladd steps up in competition against an ex-Invicta FC champ:

Brett Okamoto's pick

Immediately after Ladd's most recent bout, a decision over Sijara Eubanks in May, I said her potential is through the roof but I thought she needed time to develop. Here we are two months later, and she's fighting a seasoned kickboxer in a five-round main event. I believe Ladd will accomplish big things, but this feels like too much, too soon. For the record, however, I won't be shocked if she proves me wrong. De Randamie via knockout, third round.

Waiting in the wings

The champ doesn't wait in the wings for anyone, so allow us to rephrase that: Amanda Nunes will be sitting on the top of the bantamweight mountain, looking down on the weekend's proceedings ... while also gazing over yonder at the featherweight peak where she splits her time. The winner here could be next up for the two-division champ -- de Randamie is No. 3 in ESPN's 135-pound rankings and Ladd is ranked fourth -- or Nunes could instead wait for the winner of the 145-pound showdown between Cris Cyborg and Felicia Spencer on July 27. In the champ-champ entertainment era, MMA matchmaking no longer progresses in a straight line.

What to watch for (beyond the main event)

How often do you get to see a Hall of Famer fight?

Urijah Faber, the former WEC featherweight champion and three-time UFC title challenger (four-time if you count an interim shot), entered the UFC Hall of Fame in 2017 with good reason. Over his 13-year career, he has played a large role in bringing attention to the lighter-weight fighters in MMA.

Faber (34-10) was bursting with star power, fueled by some notable achievements. He was 17-0 in fights ending in submission, 6-0 in the UFC. He had 26 career takedowns, second most in UFC bantamweight history. And he spent the second-most time inside the cage among 135-pounders: 3 hours, 29 minutes and 4 seconds.

He's about to add to that cage time, as "The California Kid" -- at age 40, he's still a kid -- is returning to the Octagon in Saturday's co-main event, which takes place in his hometown of Sacramento.

Faber faces Ricky Simon, who has some impressive numbers of his own. He is 15-1 and riding an eight-fight winning streak.

One other number that favors the 26-year-old Simon: According to the voracious researchers at ESPN Stats & Information, 40-year-olds are 2-7 in the UFC in 2019.

No one in the UFC fights like Ryan Hall. You've got to see him.

Ryan Hall has done something Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes could not. Neither Nick Diaz nor Renzo Gracie was able to do it, either.

In December, Hall fought and defeated BJ Penn, and he did it by heel-hook submission. Penn, who in 2000 became the first non-Brazilian to win the black-belt division of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship and went on to be one of MMA's great grapplers, had never once tapped out in his 30 previous fights.

That's how elite Hall (7-1) is on the mat. And as MMA fighters go, he's as unorthodox as they come. He revels in the ground game, naturally, and he'll try to get you into his comfort zone by any means possible, including a forward roll into you to grab a leg. And once he has you, he has you.

This is what Darren Elkins (24-7) will be contending with in their intriguing featherweight prelim.

Welcoming each other back

The last time Nicco Montaño fought, she won the UFC flyweight championship.

The last time Julianna Peña fought, she was riding the momentum of consecutive victories over top bantamweights Cat Zingano and Jessica Eye as she entered the Octagon for a No. 1 contender showdown with Valentina Shevchenko.

But that most recent fight of Montaño's was way back in December 2017, and she subsequently was stripped of her championship after pulling out of a title defense. And Peña's last appearance was even longer ago, in January 2017, and she lost that Shevchenko fight.

The Montaño absence was prolonged by a six-month suspension after she failed an out-of-competition U.S. Anti-Doping Agency drug test. Peña's time away from the game has been under happier circumstances, as she became a mother in January 2018.

Now both women are back, and they will share the cage in a bantamweight prelim.

Nickname of the night

Andre Fili, who faces featherweight Sheymon Moraes, should be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on the basis of his nickname alone: "Touchy." It works in so many ways. He's going to touch you. He's a touchy guy, so don't mess with him. And, of course, he's "Touchy" Fili.

Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons is "doubtful" to play for Australia in the FIBA World Cup this summer, his agent Rich Paul told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Simmons, who debuted for the national team as a teenager and won gold at the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship, initially said he was "looking forward to representing my county Australia in the upcoming @FIBA World Cup in China" on social media in May.

Simmons is now more likely now to spend his full offseason preparing only for the Sixers' season -- free of national team responsibilities. The 22-year-old also opted out of the 2016 Olympics squad to focus on his NBA rookie season.

The Australian national team, also known as the Boomers, will still feature a handful of other NBA players, including Joe Ingles, Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills and Aron Baynes.

The FIBA World Cup starts Aug. 31 in China and runs through mid-September.

The Boston Red Sox have acquired right-hander Andrew Cashner from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for minor leaguers Elio Prado and Noelberth Romero, the teams announced Saturday.

Boston, which is looking for a starter with Nathan Eovaldi slated to go to the bullpen when he comes off the injured list, also received cash considerations in the deal.

Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski said Cashner would start Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The 32-year-old Cashner is 9-3 with a 3.83 ERA in 17 starts for the Orioles this season. He has been hot of late, posting a 1.41 ERA in five starts since the start of June.

"He's excited to be here, excited to pitch," Dombrowski said. "Excited to join the club and excited to be a part of the pennant race. As far as what we like, he's been throwing the ball well ... as well as he ever has.

"Definitely gives us an improvement in that fifth spot where we scuffled for such a long time this year. ... We like a lot of things about him. We think he makes us better."

Cashner has a 55-82 record in his 10 major league seasons with the Orioles, Rangers, Marlins, Padres and Cubs. He is in the final season of a two-year, $16 million contract.

Baltimore agreed to send Boston $1,777,839 to cover all but $1,577,000 of the $3,354,839 Cashner is due from his $8 million salary this year. Baltimore also agreed to make contingent payments on some of Cashner's performance bonuses if he should achieve them.

Dombrowski said the team was happy to make the move ahead of the trade deadline.

"We think every game is important," Dombrowski said. "We really have scuffled in that fifth spot to get innings. This changes that at this point. We're embarking on a really important part of our schedule. That was important. We wouldn't have made a deal that we didn't feel comfortable making. I think we have a good pulse on who's available and not available at this time.

"... We have 70 games to play, basically. It gives us a chance to move right away."

The Red Sox are in third place in the AL East, 8.5 games behind the New York Yankees through Friday's game. They are also one game back in the AL wild-card standings.

Starting Monday, over 15 days, Boston plays 14 games against the Yankees (8) and second-place Tampa Bay Rays (6).

"We like how our club looks, but we've liked how our club has looked for a long time," Dombrowski said. "I think we've played better. We've won five out of six. But we have to continue forward because we've dug ourselves a hole as far as the division."

Romero and Prado, both 17, made their professional debuts in the Dominican Summer League. Romero, an infielder, hit .264 with two home runs in 29 games; Prado, an outfielder, hit .303 with nine steals and 26 runs scored in 33 games.

ESPN's Joon Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Washington Nationals have placed ace Max Scherzer on the injured list with a mid-back strain, the team announced Saturday.

The move is retroactive to July 10, meaning Scherzer, who had experienced soreness in his middle back after his last start, is eligible to return July 20.

He had originally been scheduled to start Sunday, but manager Dave Martinez said Friday that an MRI on Scherzer's back came back negative. The three-time Cy Young Award winner threw from 75 feet on Friday.

Scherzer was 7-0 with a 0.84 ERA in his past nine starts before the All-Star break, and he withdrew from the All-Star Game.

To fill his spot on the roster, the Nationals recalled catcher Spencer Kieboom from Triple-A Harrisburg.

Records fell at the 89th English Schools Championships in Birmingham as the latest generation of teenage athletes showed their talent

Not only did Mia McIntosh break the championship record for the junior girls 75m hurdles in Birmingham but she set a British under-15 record too.

The Hertfordshire athlete clocked 10.75 (0.1m/sec) to smash Pippa Earley’s championships mark of 10.90 and the youngster’s time also took a tenth of a second off Shirin Irving’s national record of 10.85.

“I was mainly trying to break 11 dead because I’ve run 11.01 three times in a row previously,” McIntosh (pictured above) said. “So to finally get under that time is amazing. When I saw my time as I came through the line I was shocked.”

In warm yet cloudy conditions at the New Balance-sponsored event at the Alexander Stadium, Joel Pascall-Menzie smashed Mark Lewis-Francis’s championships record of 10.54 in the inter boys age group with 10.48 (1.1m/sec).

Was Pascall-Menzie (pictured below) expecting to run that fast? “I’d run the championship record the previous weekend,” he said, referring to a 10.54 he ran at the British League in Sheffield on July 6. “So I was hoping to run that kind of time again here.”

Pascall-Menzie was also busy in the relay as he helped Essex break the inter boys championship record in the 4x100m in both the heats and final. In the rounds on Friday the team ran 41.58 to beat London’s 2010 best of 41.85, but in the final on late Saturday afternoon they improved to 41.04.

The junior girls 4x100m also saw a relay championship record, meanwhile, when Middlesex clocked 46.46 to beat Surrey’s 2012 mark of 47.37.

Emilie Oakden of Sussex was another championship record-breaker as she beat Sophie Ashurst’s mark of 3.55m with 3.62m. It was one of several lively pole vault contests on the back straight and saw Oakden go to No.3 on the UK under-15 girls all-time lists.

Top-class sprints finals are always a feature of the English Schools and one of the best this year was the junior girls’ 100m where Nia Wedderburn-Goodison of Middlesex ran 11.91 to beat Trezeguet Taylor by one hundredth of a second.

Tom Hewson sealed a hat-trick of English Schools titles with a win in the senior boys’ javelin. The Hampshire athlete threw a 70.80m PB, too, in order to see off the challenge of Max Law – and the mark was also the second-best by a British javelin thrower of any age this year.

“That was pleasing,” said Hewson (pictured below). “I knew I had 70m in my as I’ve been doing it in training over and over again. So it’s nice to do it in competition finally.”

A few records at the English Schools have truly stood the test of time. The oldest is Kevin Steere’s inter boys’ 3000m mark of 8:20.0 from 1971. Here, Will Barnicoat was not far away from it with 8:27.06 but he was simply happy to win with an impressive front-run that saw him draw 10 seconds clear of his rivals.

Similarly, Charlotte Alexander would have been hard pressed to beat Paula Radcliffe’s championship best of 9:04.37 in the senior girls’ 3000m but the Surrey athlete still impressed with an emphatic 9:35.08 victory.

Orla Brennan of Berkshire, whose parents were both English Schools winners in the 1970s, clocked 59.42 to beat Jasmine Jolly in an exciting senior girls 400m hurdles.

Shot put legend Geoff Capes never won an English Schools title but his grandson, Donovan Capes, took junior boys’ gold for Lincolnshire with 14.94m.

Also in the shot, Lewis Byng warmed up for the European Under-20 Championships in Sweden this month with an 18.57m win in the senior boys’ event.

Shot putters also shone on day one of the championships, including Nana Gyedu, who set a championship record which you can read about here.

Next year the event moves to Manchester for its 90^th edition but will doubtless return to Birmingham following its refurbishment for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Japanese runners dominate the half-marathon events in Italy

The Japanese long distance team completed a rare feat of taking home all six medals available in the half-marathon at the World University Games.

The streets of Naples were painted red and white following a triumphant team effort by Japan’s university athletes. In the women’s half-marathon Yuka Suzuki (74:10) led home Rika Kaseda (74:32) and Yuki Tagawa (74:36) to grab all available medals in the event.

The story was exactly the same in the men’s event. Akira Aizawa took the gold medal in 65:15 closely followed in by Taisei Nakamura (65:27) and Tatsuhiko Ito (65:48). It is needless to say that both teams also won the team events with top honours.

Back inside the stadium, Ukrainians Yuliia Chumachenko and Iryna Gerashchenko took top honours in the women’s high jump with Chumachenko jumping a personal best of 1.94m to beat her compatriot to the gold medal. Germany’s Imke Onnen equaled Gerashchenko’s height of 1.91m to take the bronze medal.

Elsewhere in the field events, Australia’s Matthew Denny threw 65.27m to win the men’s discus from Romanian Alin-Alexandru Firfirica (63.74m) and Germany’s Henning Prufer (63.52m). Britain’s Greg Thompson narrowly missed out on a medal finishing fourth with a throw of 62.46m.

The men’s long jump was another close final. Japanese athlete Yuki Hashioka was the only athlete to jump over eight metres. His best effort of 8.01m gave him a clear win over second placed Yann Randrianasolo of France (7.95m). The battle for the bronze was incredibly close with Darcy Roper of Australia (7.90m) jumping a centimetre further than South African’s Gilbert Johnson to claim the medal.

The championships were concluded with a series of thrilling track races. Three athletes were all in contention for the gold down the final straight of the men’s 800m with Algeria’s Mohamed Belbachir (1:47.02) just managing to get ahead of Moroccan Moad Zahafi (1:47.64) and Czech athlete Lukas Hodbod (1:47.97).

Germany’s Caterina Granz took top honours in the women’s 1500m in a season’s best of 4:09.14. Australia’s Georgia Griffith was a very close second in 4:09.89 with Canadian Courtney Hufsmith taking the bronze in a personal best time of 4:11.81. Britain’s Dani Chatterton finished eighth in 4:16.32.

As with most big championship races, the men’s 5000m went off at a comfortable pace. Switzerland’s Jonas Raess was able to make the decisive move to take the gold medal in 14:03.10. France’s Yann Schrub was a very narrow second with 14:03.24 as the podium positions went to the last metre. Belgium’s Robin Hendrix was third with 14:04.06.

The relays are always an exciting finale to the end of a big championships and the World University Games proved to be the perfect platform for drama. Switzerland took the gold in the women’s 4x100m, clocking a time of 43.72 and beating Australia (43.97) and New Zealand (44.24) by fine margins following the disqualification of the Polish team.

Japan won yet another gold in the men’s event, clocking (38.92) with China second (39.01) and South Korea third (39.31). Favourites Brazil finished last in 1:23.05 after a baton drop while the Ghanaian team were disqualified.

Ukraine won the women’s 4x400m event in 3:30.82 while Mexico won the men’s in 3:02.89.

A day one athletics report is here, while a day two round-up is here, a day three report here, a day four report here and a day five report here.

Simona Halep pays tribute to her family and says she played the best match of her career to beat Serena Williams 6-2 6-2 and win her first Wimbledon title.

WATCH MORE: The moment Simona Halep wins her first Wimbledon title

READ MORE: Halep stuns Williams to win Wimbledon

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Serena Williams says she is not feeling overburdened by the weight of history despite missing another chance to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.

The 37-year-old American was outplayed by Romania's Simona Halep, who won her first Wimbledon title in a 6-2 6-2 win.

Defeat means Williams has now lost three Slam finals in the past year.

"Someone told me I shouldn't look at the records, I should just focus on my game. That's what I've been doing since I got to 18," she said.

Williams' last major title came at the 2017 Australian Open - when she was eight weeks pregnant - and moved her within one more of Margaret Court's all-time record.

Williams took a year off the tour as she gave birth to her daughter Olympia in September 2017, returning to the sport six months later.

She has lost to Germany's Angelique Kerber in last year's Wimbledon final and then Japan's Naomi Osaka in a controversial US Open final where an extraordinary outburst saw her call umpire Carlos Ramos a "thief" and a "liar".

This latest defeat - against an inspired Halep, who chased down everything Williams threw at her - came after a frustrating year in which she has been hampered by a knee injury.

"It seems like every Grand Slam final I'm in recently it has been an unbelievable effort to get there," she said.

"It would be interesting to see how it would be under different circumstances."

Williams is already the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title - her victory in Melbourne two years ago coming aged 35 years and 125 days - and she does not think her age is a barrier to clinching that elusive 24th.

"I feel like I'm still incredibly competitive or else I wouldn't really be out here," she said.

"For the most part, I feel like I'm on the right track. I'm just going in the right direction in terms of getting back to where I need to be."

Two-time Grand Slam champion Tracy Austin suggested the weight of Williams matching Court's record might be "getting into her head".

"I just have to figure out a way to win a final," Williams said.

"Maybe playing other finals outside of Grand Slams would be really helpful just to get in the groove so by the time I get to a Grand Slam final I'm used to what to do and how to play."

Lack of match practice hampered Williams - Navratilova

Williams had only played five tournaments this year going into Wimbledon, pulling out of Miami and Rome because of a troublesome knee injury.

The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion breezed into the final here, dropping just two sets and spending little over eight hours on court.

But she came unstuck against Halep, whose athleticism enabled her to retrieve balls and keep Williams moving.

"That's where match play and fitness comes into play," Martina Navratilova, a nine-time Wimbledon singles champion and BBC Sport analyst, said.

"Serena was out of breath in the longer rallies and she couldn't catch up physically because she hadn't had to move as much before in her previous matches.

"That's why her timing was off because she had to move too much to the ball."

Williams says her knee "feels great" and plans to play events in Toronto and Cincinnati in the hard-court swing which culminates at the US Open in late August/early September.

"With a knee injury you're not able to do an exercise bike or extra running so she did look fatigued against Halep," fellow American Austin added.

"She's happy to be pain-free but I'd like to see her really commit for the next year and play enough tournaments to be match tough enough."

Austin's BBC colleague John McEnroe, a seven-time Grand Slam winner, added: "She has to get herself even fitter because at this level she can be exposed."

'She hasn't played enough quality opposition'

Williams had only won two matches against opponents ranked inside the world's top 50 this year coming into Wimbledon, including a memorable three-set victory over Halep - then ranked as the world's best player - at the Australian Open.

And, seeded 11th at Wimbledon, she reached the final without being tested by anyone of significant calibre.

Her highest-ranked opponent was Germany's world number 17 Julia Gorges, who she beat in straight sets.

"Serena hasn't played top-quality opposition and when she is a little bit off against quality opposition - which happened against Kerber, Osaka and now Halep - the ball is not coming as easy as it does against the other players," Navratilova added.

"Serena doesn't have a Plan B because normally she doesn't need it. She aces her way out of trouble, she powers through people.

"But nothing worked against Halep because the ball came back with interest and she wasn't used to seeing that. She didn't know what to do."

Austin added: "She was trying to draw from her past experiences, trying to hit harder, tried to hit closer to the lines and by the end when she was a set and 4-2 down she looked like she had nothing left to give.

"She had lost her spirit."

Simona Halep says controlling her nerves and forgetting about who she was playing enabled her to play the match of her life and win Wimbledon.

The Romanian's 56-minute 6-2 6-2 demolition of Serena Williams earned her a second Grand Slam title.

"The nerves were positive this time. I felt them in the stomach," she said. "I always play well when I have emotions.

"I didn't think at all against who I play. I've always been intimidated a little bit when I faced Serena."

Williams had been the pre-match favourite to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title but could not find an answer to Halep's brilliant returning game and movement around the court.

"I decided before the match that I'm going to focus on myself and on the final of Grand Slam, not on her," said Halep, 27.

"That's why I was able to play my best, to be relaxed, and to be able to be positive and confident against her.

"I'm very sure that was the best match of my life."

Past experience helps Halep to victory

Before winning the French Open in 2018 for her maiden Grand Slam title, Halep had often been viewed as something of a choker having lost in three previous major finals.

But she said those experiences had helped her here - on a surface that, as a player of 1.68m, she never thought she would be able to win on against "all these players that are very tall and serving with a lot of power".

"The finals I lost in the past helped me to be different when I face this moment," she said. "It's never easy to face a Grand Slam final. You can get intimidated by the moment. You can get nervous, too nervous.

"I have learned that it's a normal match, not thinking that much about the trophy, just going there and try to be the best as you can.

"So I did that. I said that every time I would play a final of Grand Slam, I will do exactly the same thing. So today I did it."

A trophy - and a dream membership to club

While Halep fell to her knees to celebrate her win and kissed the trophy repeatedly, she seemed almost as pleased to be wearing a little badge that meant she was now a member of the All England Club.

"It feels good," was the first thing she said when she walked into her news conference pointing at the purple-and-white round badge.

"I wanted this badly. When I started the tournament, I talked to the people from the locker room that my dream is to become a member here. So today it's real and I'm really happy.

"I met [Wimbledon chairman] Philip [Brook]. He told me: 'Any time you want, you can come, have dinner, have lunch, playing a little bit tennis.' I will come for sure."

She was equally thrilled to have delivered on something her mum told her when she was growing up - that if she wanted to do "something really special in tennis" she would need to play in a Wimbledon final.

Watching her daughter do that - and win - her mum Tania had no more words.

"She didn't say anything because she was crying," smiled Halep. "I just hugged her and I kissed her. I knew she's very emotional. I just told her that we'll talk later."