[B]By HOWARD FENDRICH[\/B]
\nAP TENNIS WRITER
\n[B]
\nWIMBLEDON, England[\/B] (AP)\u2014One might reasonably have expected Petra Kvitova, not Maria Sharapova, to be betrayed by nerves in the Wimbledon final.<\/p>\n
This was, after all, Kvitova\u2019s first Grand Slam championship match, while Sharapova already owned three major titles, including one from the All England Club. So Kvitova decided to pretend she was heading out on Centre Court to play in the fourth round.<\/p>\n
That mindset worked. So, too, did nearly everything Kvitova tried once play began, particularly her big, flat left-handed groundstrokes that pushed Sharapova back on her heels. In a surprisingly lopsided final, Kvitova beat the higher-seeded, yet shakier, Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 Saturday to win Wimbledon for her first Grand Slam trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was surprised how I was feeling on the court,\u201d Kvitova said, \u201cbecause I was focused only on the point and on the game and not on the final.\u201d<\/p>\n
If there were those who wondered how the eighth-seeded Kvitova would handle the setting and the pressure, her coach did not.<\/p>\n
Indeed, David Kotyza had an inkling his new pupil possessed the right stuff to win titles shortly after they began working together about 2 1\/2 years ago. That\u2019s because he was wowed by the several pages of handwritten answers Kvitova supplied for a questionnaire he gave her back then\u2014and has kept to this day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really surprised about how she thinks about tennis, how clever she is. She told me her advantages, disadvantages, what she has to improve,\u201d Kotyza said, then pointed a finger to his temple and added: \u201cHer brain is a big advantage for this game.\u201d<\/p>\n
When she was a kid growing up in Fulnek, Czech Republic\u2014population: 6,000\u2014and practicing an hour or so after school each day, Kvitova didn\u2019t count on becoming a professional tennis player. She simply wasn\u2019t that good, yet. Clearly, she\u2019s a quick study.<\/p>\n
Before Wimbledon in 2010, Kvitova\u2019s career record on grass was 0-4. She is 16-2 on the slick surface since, including a run to the semifinals here last year before losing to Serena Williams.<\/p>\n
At 21, Kvitova is the youngest Wimbledon champion since\u2014you guessed it\u2014Sharapova was 17 in 2004. Kvitova is also the first Czech to win the tournament since Jana Novotna in 1998.<\/p>\n
Plus, Kvitova is only the third left-handed woman to win the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. The last was Martina Navratilova, who won her ninth Wimbledon title in 1990, a few months after Kvitova was born.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thrilled for her. She played brave tennis, and she deserved to win. She was by far the better player,\u201d said Navratilova, who was born in Czechoslovakia and sat near Novotna in the Royal Box on Saturday. \u201cI don\u2019t think this is the only time she\u2019ll win here. It\u2019s very exciting. A new star.\u201d<\/p>\n
That last phrase was being uttered by many people around the grounds after Kvitova managed to make Sharapova look rather ordinary.<\/p>\n
Consider: Until Saturday, Sharapova had won all 12 sets she played over the last two weeks. But, as Sharapova\u2019s coach Thomas Hogstedt summed up afterward: \u201cOne played well. The other didn\u2019t play well. Maria didn\u2019t play as good as she can.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was, at least in part, Kvitova\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n
She compiled 19 winners, most by zipping her heavy forehands and backhands from the baseline, where her 6-foot frame and long arms helped her get to seemingly out-of-reach balls.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe created offensive opportunities from tough positions on the court,\u201d Sharapova said. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s just too good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kvitova also broke Sharapova five times, anticipating where serves were headed.<\/p>\n
It helped that Sharapova double-faulted six times, although at least those were fewer than the 13 the Russian hit in the semifinals.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe performed incredible. Sometimes, when you don\u2019t know what to expect and you don\u2019t know how you\u2019re going to feel, sometimes you play your best, because you have that feeling of nothing to lose,\u201d said the fifth-seeded Sharapova, who was playing in a major final for the first time since right shoulder surgery in October 2008. \u201cShe went for it, absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n
What really was odd was seeing the experienced and normally gritty Sharapova bothered by distractions such as the swarms of tiny greenflies that showed up Saturday or the occasional clap or yell that came from the stands during points.<\/p>\n
Even more stunning was the way Sharapova crumpled at key moments. One example: She double-faulted twice in a row to lose serve and fall behind 4-2 in the first set. Sharapova turned her back to the court and gave herself a little lecture, then smacked herself on her left palm with her racket.<\/p>\n
Kvitova\u2014now 4-1 in tournament finals this year\u2014broke again to begin the second set, capping that game with a running forehand that caught the back edge of the baseline. The women exchanged four consecutive breaks in the middle of that set, before Kvitova\u2014not Sharapova\u2014gathered herself.<\/p>\n
Ahead 4-3, but trailing 15-30 while serving, Kvitova hit three straight service winners to get to 5-3.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe served quite hard. Her second serve was pretty big as well. She was going for it, for the second serve,\u201d Sharapova said. \u201cI felt like I could have reacted a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Credit Kvitova also for being at her steadiest in the most resolve-testing moments. She served out both sets at love, including with a 105 mph ace on match point. <\/p>\n
What was running through her head right then? <\/p>\n
\u201cI have to do it now,\u201d she would say later.<\/p>\n
After that last point\u2014one last nerve-free point\u2014Kvitova raised both arms, then dropped to her knees. A raucous celebration ensued in her guest box, including some overzealous chest-bumping that left one man knocked off his feet. Kvitova\u2019s allotted seats were completely filled\u2014with her coach, parents, two brothers and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, among others\u2014while Sharapova\u2019s section had only her agent, coach, hitting partner and fiance, New Jersey Nets guard Sasha Vujacic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you lose in the final, you feel like the biggest loser in a way, but Maria is on the right track. She\u2019s working hard,\u201d Vujacic said. \u201cShe needed a lot of time to come back, and I think if she stays on the same road, there are many good things ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now there will be similar expectations of Kvitova.<\/p>\n
Kotyza, her coach, said Kvitova\u2019s best quality probably is that \u201cshe\u2019s just an ordinary girl. She\u2019s standing with both feet on the ground. And I think it\u2019s very, very important for … these matches. Because she\u2019s \u2018OK, just hit the ball, and we will see.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked after Saturday\u2019s victory when she first realized she might one day win a Grand Slam title, Kvitova smiled, tucked some strands of hair behind her ear and replied: \u201cProbably yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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