Maria Sharapova vs. Petra Kvitova - Women’s Final Preview: Wimbledon Championships 2011
Every eye is anxiously waiting for the final showdown at the Wimbledon Championships, as the former world number one Maria Sharapova of Russia, faces the reigning world number eight, Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in the final
of women’s singles.
The ultimate battle of the season will be staged on the Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, on Saturday afternoon, with two of the finest women tennis players battling hard
for the glorious Wimbledon singles title.
Seeded fifth in the tournament this year, Sharapova has been in a blistering form throughout the Wimbledon Championships and has not dropped a single set en route to the final of the Grand Slam event. No doubt the Russian has been
the most dominant force in the star-studded field at London this year and has annihilated every single competitor she faced on her road to the final battle.
The sixth ranked Sharapova carried on her winning impetus in the semi-final clash against Sabine Lisicki of Germany, defeating her in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, to book a date with Kvitova in the final. Sharapova has made it to the
final at Wimbledon for the second time since she won the title way back in 2004 and it is anticipated that the Russian will repeat the similar feat this time round as well to break back into top five in women rankings.
On the other hand, the eighth seeded Czech competitor, Kvitova, has been in her prime form throughout the Grand Slam campaign. She made it to her first ever Grand Slam final after defeating a number of top class players in the
initial round matches. She took down the world number five, Victoria Azarenka in the semi-final clash, defeating the resilient Belarusian in three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
Kvitova beat 29th seed Roberta Vinci, 19th seed Yanina Wickmayer and 32ndseed Tsvetana Pironkova in the earlier rounds to recognise herself as a worthy candidate for the championship title. The
Czech has already won three WTA (Women’s tennis Association) singles titles this year and has been victorious in 36 out of 44 matches she took part in.
The former world number one has finally gotten back her vintage form this year and is heading for her fourth Grand Slam title. She has already beaten Kvitova in singles encounter last year at Memphis, where she made it to the final
of the event after taking down the Czech competitor 6-4, 6-3. Sharapova must be confident for her Saturday’s final as she is 1-0 against Kvitova but she must keep in mind that the Czech competitor is now a far more established and improved tennis player than
she was last year.
Sharapova has just faced two seeded opponents in her way to the final, none of whom were in top-10, and hence the eighth ranked Kvitova might cause some serious problems for the Russian on Saturday. Although Sharapova is the hot
favourite for winning the Wimbledon title, the left-handed Kvitova will certainly not submit the game without some serious fight.
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