The final of the Wimbledon women's tournament Saturday oppose Russia's Maria Sharapova in the Czech Petra Kvitova. In the first semifinal of the day, Kvitova defeated Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in straight sets, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2, while in the process, Sharapova defeated Germany's Sabine Lisicki in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, seven years after the title had revealed.
The Russian will play Saturday's fifth Grand Slam final, his first in over two and a half years. After his success at Wimbledon (2004), Sharapova had added to his list the U.S. Open (2006) and the Australian Open (2008). Operated from the shoulder end of 2008, Russia has been slow to return to his best. She started to get interesting results this spring by winning in Rome and reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros.
"I am so happy, it's been a while. But I still have much to do," responded the champion, aged 24. The former world No. 1 took a very bad start and quickly found led 3-0, then regroup to win nine of the following games and eventually win. Germany's Lisicki, 62nd World, played his first semifinal of a Grand Slam at age 21.
FIRST GRAND SLAM FINAL FOR Kvitova:
Saturday, in the final, Maria Sharapova will face a novice at this level of competition. This is the first time Kvitova, 21 and 8 player in the world, reached a Grand Slam final. Already a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year and finalist at Eastbourne two weeks ago, the left-handed Czech imposed Azarenka his science than on grass, a surface that is ideally suited to his powerful game. Large (1.83 m) and swift, it relied on his big first serve to fly the match with six aces, including three consecutive to conclude the first set in only twenty-seven minutes.
Azarenka, which was the first semifinal in a Grand Slam when she was No. 4 worldwide, then managed to react by taking advantage of a loss of power in the service of Kvitova, which lost its second game of the fortnight . But the Czech was immediately regained the lead in the third inning with his strike force significantly higher (40 winning points to 9) than his opponent Belarus, which gave the match on a double fault. Impressive since the start of the tournament will not go Kvitova defeated Saturday in the finals, provided to control his nerves, which is far from always the case for a novice like her on such occasions.
