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As I predicted, Petra Kvitova, 21, won her first Wimbledon title over 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-4 with hard-hitting ground strokes and taking advantage of her opponent's weak serving.
Kvitova was broken the very first game of the match but broke back immediately with some hard hitting and a double fault from Sharapova.
Sharapova was broken again in the 6th game of the match and Kvitova held serve to go up 5-2 in the first set. Sharapova continued to serve badly with 5 double faults in the first set but was able to hold and force Kvitova to serve out the first set.
The second set was closer, with Sharapova serving better (only one double fault and a pair of aces) and even though Kvitova broke early she gave it back almost immediately. The two traded breaks until Kvitova lead to go up 4-3 and Sharpova gutted out another service game to serve out the match, which she did emphatically, ending with her first ace on championship point: 6-3 6-4.
Kvitova played well, playing within herself and was able to handle Sharapova's pace and generate a huge amount of her own pace. Kvitova did a better job of hitting her spots on her serve, even though she served more double faults in the second set than Sharapova, they were on points which were not damaging.
Congratulations to Petra! I expect her to win many more majors.
