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Tuesday, 23 August, 2011, 3:22 ( 1:22 GMT )
Editorial/OP-ED




Tennis at Wmibledon: Kvitova Outplays Sharapova to Win Ladies' Title
04/07/2011 12:00:00
Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Ladies' Champion (left) and runner-up Maria Sharapova

Two new names made it to the record books of the most prestigious events in tennis, the Wimbledon Championships, when two players from Eastern Europe won the respective titles at the weekend at the 125th Championships at the All England club in south London. Czech Petra Kvitova won the ladies title and Novak Djokovic of Serbia the men's crown.

Petra Kvitova beat the 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova of Russia, and Djokovic last year's champion Rafael Nadal of Spain.

Both were deserved champions and both deserved the title. The 21-year-old Kvitova smiled and laughed her way through her post-victory news conference - shaking her head in shy disbelief at hearing herself introduced as the 2011 Wimbledon champion - and thoroughly charmed all present.

"It's hard to find words," she said. "I still don't know how I feel. It's still an unbelievable feeling. Maybe I'll accept it after... I don't know... some days. I was so happy at the moment when I won. It's strange."

It was Kvitova's cool demeanour that marked the pathway to her victory. But how was this so, in her debut Grand Slam final, against an opponent of Sharapova's experience? Kvitova didn't quite know.

She slept well the night after the win, she reported, and then tried to treat the greatest morning of her career as ordinary match preparation like any other.

"I was like I am before a normal match," she said. But even she conceded to being pleased with how relaxed she was. "I was surprised how I was feeling on court because I was focused only on each point and each game, and not on the final and the medal.

"Sometimes my serve wasn't so good, so I had to keep mentally good. I knew I had to be the first one to play hard, and I had to make the points. I did that.

"I like the big matches. I believed I could play very good in the final, and I did play that way. It was about the serve, for sure, and the return. I know that she returns very well, but I knew I could return her serve also. I knew she would make some double faults. On the important points I played well. I returned very well.

Kitova's belief, and her ability, made her the first left-hander to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish since Martina Navratilova in 1990.

She spoke with her compatriot Navratilova afterwards, and also with the last Czech ladies' singles champion at Wimbledon, Jana Novotna, both of whom watched her victory from the Royal Box.

Kvitova Beat Russian Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in one hour 25 minutes and though Sharapova's play fell well below her best levels, it was in no small part due to the big-hitting torrent directed at her by the 21-year-old whose first, but surely not last.

Ever so graceful in defeat, Sharapova was full of praise for the new champion. Considering she had lost a Grand Slam final in which she had started as odds-on favourite, Maria Sharapova was in upbeat mood after the match.

She praised Kvitova for her excellent play, and was also optimistic about her own improvement during the year and since her comeback from a shoulder operation in 2008.

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Comment:
Well deserved Victories.
It is always great to see Djokovic, Winning a Game
 
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