Sharapova a Likely Winner

Written by: Staff on 1st July 2011

Sharapova a Likely Winner

Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates her victory over Sabine Lisicki of Germany in their semi final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 30 June 2011. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

Russian beauty Maria Sharapova is about to win her second Wimbledon title. Sharapova overpowered surprise comeback kid Sabine Lisicki, 6-4 6-3.

Maria won the Wimbledon title in 2004, at the ripe age of 17. She suffered a shoulder injury that kept her out of the game for seven month. “You take things for granted. In tennis, life, everything happens automatically. You know when the next tournaments are. You wake up and you know you’re going to practice. Everything is on autopilot. The all of a sudden you just stop,” the Russian said.

The Russian’s last Grand Slam win was at the Australian Open in 2008. Of Saturday’s final she said, “I’m thrilled to be in the final. I was pretty realistic. I hadn’t been past the fourth round in a few years. So to be at this stage, I’m just thrilled to have the opportunity to go for it.”

Sharapova’s opponent in the Wimbledon final will be Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Kvitova, 21, finished off Victoria Azarenka 6-1 3-6 6-2.

Kvitova reckons being left-handed will be an advantage against Maria. She is the first lefty to reach the final since Martina Navratilova in 1994. Navratilova said, “At the start of the tournament I tipped Kvitova to take the title and I’ve not seen anything to make me change my mind.”

Petra said in her press conference, “Maria has experience, she has been in the final before. Now I just have to beat her.”