Petra Kvitova | featured news

Williams, seeking a fifth Wimbledon singles title, defeated Petra Kvitova, 6-2, 7-5, to advance to the semifinals.

Petra Kvitova won her first Grand Slam title Saturday by beating Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final. Kvitova was playing in her first major final, but it was three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova that showed her nerves. The 2004 Wimbledon champion double-faulted six times, including twice to get broken to 4-2 in the first set. The 21-year-old Kvitova is the first left-handed woman to win the Wimbledon title since Martina Navratilova in 1990.

The women’s final at Wimbledon Saturday will lack the world’s No. 1 player, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, reduced to a competitive footnote by her early ouster.

Australian Open runner-up Li Na reached the quarterfinals of the French Open with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over Petra Kvitova on Monday and became the first Chinese player to advance that far at the clay-court Grand Slam. Li has reached the quarterfinals at all four major tournaments and will next play either Victoria Azarenka or Ekaterina Makarova.