Petra Kvitova pulled off a big shock in the Ladies Wimbledon final beating tournament favourite Maria Sharapova in straight sets. Kvitova becomes the first left handed champion since legend Martina Navratilova lifted the coveted prize
On a sundrenched centre court, the crowd were entertained by two evenly matched individuals who went toe to toe, hitting one sensational winner after another. The Czech coming out on top of a thrilling first set where both women showed the reasons why they had progressed to this stage. In fact 2004 winner Sharapova had won every set she had played in till the final, showing poise and prowess despite having shoulder surgery that has seen her have to remodel her serving technique. However Kvitova played like she belonged here and battered away at the Sharapova serve, taking the first set 6-3.
The second set was a mix between sloppy serves, inch perfect cross court forehands all mixed in with a whole bag of nerves as neither Lady was able to dominate their own serve, exchanging breaks for much of the first half of this set. At 3-3 with a Kvitova mistake allowing Sharapova to break and level the set, the eighth seed suddenly forgot she was supposed to be nervous, as the underdog produced some of the best tennis seen at this year’s tournament to win her maiden grand slam event. Fittingly for a champion, signing off with a stunning ace to take the set 6-4.
Fifth seed Sharapova was graceful in defeat and surely we will see her back to challenge next year. Kvitova fell away last year after her shock run to the semi finals, but surely now with the belief that comes with a Wimbledon win, allied to her well rounded game, we may see a new era of dominance beginning.
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