03 July,2011 07:24 AM IST | | AFP
Eighth seed Czech Kvitova stuns favourite Russian Maria Sharapova in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to win maiden Grand Slam title
Petra Kvitova stunned favourite Maria Sharapova to win her first Grand Slam title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the women's singles final at Wimbledon here Saturday.
Petra Kvitova celebrates her 6-3, 6-4 win over Russian Maria
Sharapova in the Wimbledon women's final in London on Saturday
The 21-year-old eighth seed became only the third Czech woman to triumph at Wimbledon after nine-time champion Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna, who were both in Centre Court's royal box to witness the victory.
Kvitova, who had never appeared in a Grand Slam final before, collapsed to the turf in delight after clinching the title in the 10th game of the second set with her first ace of the match.
Sharapova is disappointed with the result.
"It's hard to find some words, to see the great players in the royal box. It's very nice when they're watching meu00a0... supporting me, it's great," said Kvitova, the first left-hander since Navratilova in 1990 to win the title.
A disappointed Sharapova, the 2004 champion, said: "It's great to be back at this stage and holding the runner-up plateu00a0-- but I wanted the big one today. But it's something I want to be back for and holding again one day."
A nervous start saw Kvitova and Sharapova both suffer breaks of serve in the opening two games. Kvitova fought off a Sharapova break point in the third game before holding to take a 2-1 lead.
The decisive break came in Game Six when Sharapova's serve faltered. A double-fault gave Kvitova a break for a 4-2, which became 5-2. Sharapova held for 5-3, Kvitova's left-handed spin on serve ensured she closed out the set.
Another poor service game from Sharapova saw her double-fault at 30-40 down to gift Kvitova her third break of the match. But Sharapova was able to carve out a break to level at 2-2, when Kvitova failed to put away a routine smash allowing the Russian to lob. Sharapova's serve problems resurfaced in the next game however, and the former world number one was soon break point down.
Sharapova saved that one but Kvitova made no mistake to convert her second, bludgeoning an unstoppable forehand return past her opponent for a 3-2 lead.
Sharapova again conjured up a break to bounce back to 3-3 but her failure to address the vulnerability of her own serve proved costly once more as she was broken for the third time in the second set to trail 3-4. Kvitova duly held for the remainder of the set to seal a deserved win.
