WIMBLEDON, England: It was all about the serves at Wimbledon Thursday, and it was Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova who survived the ups and downs on Centre Court to reach the final. The fifth-seeded Sharapova, who won the first of her three Grand Slam titles at the All England Club in 2004, overcame 13 double-faults to beat Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 6-3. Kvitova reached her first major final by hitting nine aces in a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 wins over Victoria Azarenka.
Sharapova had two double-faults in her opening service game, the second to get broken. She had two more while trailing 3-0, but saved a break point and then won 12 of the final 16 games.
“She played really well and I did quite the opposite,” Sharapova said. “It was tough. I just had to stay focused. I got back on track and just remained really focused throughout the rest of the match.”
“All matches it was around both serves, so I’m very happy my serve was good in the third set,” said Kvitova, who had never won a match on grass before last year’s tournament, when she reached the semifinals. “Grass is my favorite surface.” Kvitova was playing in only her second major semifinal, and she dictated the play throughout the match. The Czech left-hander had 40 winners and 14 unforced errors, while Azarenka had only nine winners and seven unforced errors.
Sharapova had two double-faults in her opening service game, the second to get broken. She had two more while trailing 3-0, but saved a break point and then won 12 of the final 16 games.
“She played really well and I did quite the opposite,” Sharapova said. “It was tough. I just had to stay focused. I got back on track and just remained really focused throughout the rest of the match.”
“All matches it was around both serves, so I’m very happy my serve was good in the third set,” said Kvitova, who had never won a match on grass before last year’s tournament, when she reached the semifinals. “Grass is my favorite surface.” Kvitova was playing in only her second major semifinal, and she dictated the play throughout the match. The Czech left-hander had 40 winners and 14 unforced errors, while Azarenka had only nine winners and seven unforced errors.
No comments:
Post a Comment