Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova | featured news

The shot that doomed Maria Sharapova on what was a manic middle Monday whizzed past at 108 miles per hour, a first-rate second serve that crowned her third Round of 16 exit at Wimbledon in six years. This loss, though — this was different.

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.

Maria Sharapova crushed Dominika Cibulkova, advancing to a Wimbledon semifinal for the first time in four years. It took Sharapova less than an hour to beat Cibulkova, who upset Caroline Wozniacki, 6-1, 6-1. Afterward, Cibulkova couldn’t exit Centre Court quickly enough.

Maria Sharapova lost in the second round at Wimbledon to Gisela Dulko 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.