The Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova, 21, stunned the tennis world Saturday, defeating favored Russian Maria Sharapova to win the Wimbledon women's title.
Kvitova, a tall lefthander playing in her first Grand Slam singles final, dominated the match Saturday at the All England Club in London, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
Some tennis analysts had expected Sharapova, the world's fourth-ranked player and the 2004 Wimbledon champion, to notch her fourth Grand Slam title. But it was Kvitova, ranked eighth in the world, who ascended from her semi-final finish at Wimbledon last year to the title.
Kvitova's groundstrokes often caught Sharapova leaning the wrong way. Sharapova had six double faults in the match and won just 27 percent of her second serves.
As a youth, Kvitova idolized Czech tennis great Martina Navratilova, the last lefthander to win at Wimbledon in 1990. Navratilova watched Saturday's match from the Royal Box along with another former singles champion from the Czech Republic, Jana Novotna.
Kvitova said she was grateful for the support of the former Czech champions and said they "gave me some advice."
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.