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Sharapova stuns Serena to take title
Teenager Maria Sharapova has stunned champion Serena Williams 6-1 6-4 in the Wimbledon final to become the first Russian to win a singles title at the championships. The 17-year-old also became only the second Russian woman to win a grand slam title, less than a month after Anastasia Myskina became the first at Roland Garros.
In the Open era, only Martina Hingis was younger than Sharapova when she won the women's singles title. The Swiss was 16 when she beat Jana Novotna in 1997. Playing in her first grand slam final on Saturday, Sharapova showed no early nerves and drew first blood by breaking the defending champion's serve to lead 3-1 after Serena ballooned a backhand long. Serena, 22, was seeking her third successive Wimbledon singles crown but was unable to cope with the brute force of the 17-year-old's groundstrokes.
Sharapova broke again for 5-1 with a searing backhand winner and kept her composure to take the first set on her fourth set point when Serena netted a forehand service return. The 13th seed maintained her momentum at the start of the second set and a shell-shocked Serena was struck on the nose by the ball after one particularly venomous groundstroke from the Siberian. With both players troubled by the gusty wind, Serena thought she had wrested away the initiative when she broke for 4-2 but Sharapova defiantly broke straight back.
In a epic ninth game, Serena grittily saved three set points but Sharapova secured the decisive break when the American slipped and hooked a forehand out. The fearless Russian then completed an astonishing victory on her second match point when Serena netted a forehand and she greeted her triumph by collapsing to her knees in tears in disbelief. Sharapova's victory is the first for a non-American in the women's final since Czech Novotna in 1998, which is also the last year neither Venus or Serena held one of the four grand slam titles between them. Serena vows to reclaim title
Serena Williams will use her shock defeat to Maria Sharapova in the Wimbledon final to spur her to greater glory, the deposed champion says. Less than an hour after having her title wrenched from her grip by the 17-year-old Siberian on Saturday, Serena said she would be hitting the practice courts as soon as possible to raise her game to an even higher level. "I'm definitely going to triple my efforts, do everything I can to play better next time," the six-times grand slam champion smiled. First, though, she wants to get away from Wimbledon. "(Tomorrow) I'll probably be going to the tennis court, work on some stuff," she said. "Won't be in England. "Actually, I think I need to go out right now, the way I performed. So if you'd let me go, I'm going to go to Court 13 and start practising," she told reporters. Serena, who returned to action in March this year after knee surgery, said she had been well below par against Sharapova. "Oh, I'm at like 20 percent right now, so ... I'm at 20 percent, I think. I think everyone can see it. There's a lot of stuff I want to do a little more physically. "Obviously, I want to play a lot better than I did the last two matches. I still think there's a lot of things that I want to work on that I really know from my potential that I can do a lot better on. Everyone here knows I can do so much better than what I did the past few matches. We can't deny that." Williams family Serena, unbeaten at the All England Club since 2001, said she had put a lot of pressure on herself. "I didn't play great and I didn't win," she smiled. "I put a lot of stress on myself. I think I put too much stress on myself going into it. "I figured, you know, I really wanted to win more than anything. I was so focused the night before, the day before, I mean, a week before. "I just really was so, you know, 'I got to do this. If I don't do this, there's no ifs, ands or buts about it. I've got to do it'. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself." Serena acknowledged that Sharapova had been too hot on the day. "She played her best tennis today, and for the whole tournament, for sure," she nodded. "You know, it's normal. "When I play people, they normally play their best tennis ... not 'normally', they always play their best tennis against me and my sister. So today I knew she was going to be playing really well. "She's kind of like me, she doesn't back off. She keeps giving it her all." Sharapova's victory means the Wimbledon title leaves the Williams family for the first time since 1999. Venus won in 2000 and 2001. Serena said they'd be back to reclaim it. "We have lots of years left, and we both do so well here, so definitely. It's just a matter of time." |
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