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The Czech Republic have a Wimbledon champion for the first time since 1998, when Jana Novotna finally got that title she chased for so long. In a sport, at least on the women’s side of it, that logevity and consistency seem to have gone out the window with the Williams sisters nearing the end of their run, we hope that the Wonderful tennis Kvitova produced over the last two weeks is here to stay and win more grand slam titles in the coming years.
The big story today was Maria Sharapova, as she always tends to be wherever she goes and whenever she plays. Seven years since her first grand slam title at the age of 17, three years since her last grand slam title in Australia, she was back on the biggest tennis stage in the world, ready to complete her comeback. The failing serve? It was there with her. Well, both ladies couldn’t really dominate their own service games. It was Kvitova however, who managed to hit winner after winner while running Sharapova around the baseline, as she hates to do.
Sharapova’s forehand betrayed her, and the deep return game that worked so well for her against Lisicki had no effect against the 21 year old in her first grand slam finals. No cold feet, no respect for her opponent, despite her fame and track record. Kvitova plays to win, and being a left hander helped her against the struggling Sharapova. She finished the game with a perfect service game, and her last point, the tournament point, was an ace, her only ace of the match.
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Sharapova didn’t lose a set throughout the tournament, but that didn’t mean anything against Kvitova. Double fault after double fault, including three straight during the first set, took out any confidence she had left in her service game. Some of her first serves were even slower than her second attempts, trying only to keep the ball in play. She never liked to run around, and Kvitova went for the corners, creating angles Sharapova just couldn’t handle.
Is it good for Women’s tennis? Fresh blood is always great, but there never seems to be any shortage of supply in fresh blood in the WTA. The top 10 looks completely different from one year to the next. Some say that’s good – showing the depth of the circuit, and amount of talent and inability to predict. Still, fans need champions they can relate to, know. Sharapova might be a self centered prat with her nose up in the air, but the crowd knows her and the media & cameras lover her. Every time there seems to be someone new, ready to take over the tennis world, she’s soon replaced, retired or just not good enough for over a year.
Petra Kvitova looks like a very complete player with the added bonus of apparently being very modest and likable. If she avoids injuries this might be a new day of promising future, of hope for a dynasty and maybe even creating a going rivalry in Women’s tennis. Sharapova will be around I’m guessing. She seems recovered, finally, and ready to make up for lost titles. We’ll be smarter in a couple of month, in Queens.