Kvitova has no fear of winning on big stage, crushes Sharapova for Wimbledon title

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Wilson Blade 9

Petra Kvitova, 21, may have played her first Grand Slam final, and not only that, she played against former world No.1 and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova, but apart from the shaky serve in the opening game, Kvitova showed no signs of nervousness and went all the way to the biggest tennis trophy with a 6-3 6-4 win. The most powerful sign of Kvitova’s mental strength, something very welcome in women’s tennis, was the final game of the match which Kvitova quickly won with great serves without losing a point.

The weakest link in Sharapova’s game was her serve, and here’s one illustration: in the first set the Russian three-time Grand Slam champion won just 14% of points on her second serve. I often had a feeling that Sharapova was afraid to serve. After the coin toss she chose Kvitova to start the match. Also, the crucial sixth game of the first set Sharapova lost with a double fault and Kvitova earned a 4-2 lead. Sharapova’s mental toughness got its time to shine when she served an ace on Kvitova’s set point in the first set, but overall in the match, the eighth-ranked Kvitova was much more solid and not even the never-give-up attitude could save Sharapova. The first seven games of the second set featured five breaks of serve, and that fifth one was earned by Kvitova, who soon worked her way to the Wimbledon title.

Kvitova, who cracked the Top 10 this year, has won her fourth title of the season, after Brisbane, Paris and Madrid.

20 COMMENTS

  1. Unbelievable! What a performance! Huge congrats to Petra. Tears of happiness in my eyes 🙂

  2. Marija, did i include her on the list? We were without power so i couldn’t watch it, but i will watch in the next week.

  3. Surprising winner, I thought Maria would sweep her off the court. Maybe she underestimated Kvitova a bit…? Also, nice to see someone new winning Wimbledon.

  4. P!nky, no you didn’t. 🙂 I included Kvitova in my poll, but she didn’t receive many votes, she was third from behind, after Hantuchova and Bartoli. Kvitova got 69 votes and Sharapova 442! Wozniacki 126 and Serena 176. Venus 92 and Li Na 89.

  5. I voted for her! Can’t believe she won…Happy for her…She played great tennis to win!

  6. Maria’s serve was just awful today- not strong or precise, and those double faults…:( I was cheering up for her, but with that serving there can’t be a title. On the other hand, Petra was playing great, and today she was just better. Masha fought, but she was always running for the result. Does anyone know how the rankings will look like on Monday?

  7. i think maria played really bad today!or also i have to think that we believed very much in her but without reasons! On her way to finals, she didn’t lose a set! Ok..but she didn’t defeted a top ten players! She had an easy draw and she did well on that..but petra was a tough opponement! Not as the others..
    To think about petra’s ranking now..n7 with 4 tittles includding wimbledon and madrid……

  8. I don’t believe that Sharipova was “crushed”. She lost 12 games to 7, not crushed. The previous opponents of both players were about even. Lisicki is at the top of her game and should have been given a high seed.

    Since her operation, I have noticed that Maria’s serve deteriorates late in tournaments. The turning point of this match was in the 6th game with the score tied 30 all. Maria double faulted twice and lost the game giving Petra a 4-2 lead.

  9. I totally agree about Lisicki. If Williamses were given a bump in seeding she should have been given that as well, not just a lousy wildcard.

  10. It was a beautiful day to see Tennis trumping hype.Kvitova is way more talented than pova,Maria is an overhyped ballbasher np different from Safina or any lumbering ballbasher.She got an easy draw and it was a pleasure to see her lose to real talent.Nobody was giving Petra chance in that final but the moment Petra broke her in first set I knew it was over.Maria was being favored overwhelmingly by the media who all predicted her winning.
    I remember the british crowd cheering when Venus lost they thought pova will then win.I liked the look on their faces when Petra won…they wanted Murray and pova to win …becareful what you wish for…bwahahaha including you Mariya.

  11. I don’t understand why so many people think Sabine should have been seeded. Yes, she won a tournament on grass, but, come on, the girl didn’t have such great results in the past, or was some big name, and to give her a seed could be very risky for the organisators, we all know how many players play great on some tournaments, and then get out of GS in early rounds, there is just no consistency today, and you never know what are you gonna get. And what does this mean, that if you’re a young player and you played great and won 1 tournament, you should be right there turned into star? I’m sorry, but I think new players should still have a ”harder” path, that will make them greater in the future. Isn’t it better for all this way, that she was given ”lousy” wildcard for a reason, and she made it to the SF beating some great players along the way? Of course Williams were seeded higher, they won this tournament so many times, it may sound unfair, but that just happens in every sport. Big names get privileges, and new ones will also once they become great players.

  12. mirjana ..only marine or jb can say that sabine should have been seed as william’s sisters hahaha…THEY WON WIMBLEDON MANY TIMES, not birmingham

  13. Brenda, stick to mens tennis and get yourself a nanny to educate you a little.
    Mirjana, Sabine won the first tournament she entered, Williamses did not. So, if Wimbledon helped them out based on their past glory they should also help out a player who scored a surprise win at her first tournament. Sabine confirmed by her performance that she’d deserve it.

  14. marine, talking about men’s tennis..nole won WIMBLEDON on her first week as the n1! And caroline?? Won beijing hahahaha

  15. Sabine has not matured enough to be spoken in the same sentence as the sisters.She doesnt have the credentials of the sisters,she is just a ballbasher with no return game.She will be flopping all over the place on the hardcourts and choking as usual.She is so annoying on court….

  16. i think maria didn’t have herself to prepared enough to faced petra. beside petra, does really have great groundstrokes and good serves, also playing lefty.

    maria serve’s also really messy. 32 double faults before final and her first serve didn’t workout. you can’t perform in grandslam’s final with messy serves.

    but I will awalys be maria big fan and i say BIG congrats for petra. she really deserves thath trophy, she deserves to trough to final more than vika, and she deserves to become a new member of all england club 😀

    i think venus rosewater dishes should go to more than one woman for almost ten years,, you got it petra, congrats ^O^

  17. pova is over hyped and during the hardcourt swing she will lose to younger and older players unless they keep on feeding her cupcakes.
    I hope Kvitova meets her again at the USA OPEN and shows her the door gain…cant stand her

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