Petra Kvitova rode her big serve right into the Wimbledon final, beating Victoria Azarenka 6—1, 3—6, 6—2 Thursday.
Kvitova hit nine aces, including three in a row in the final game of the first set, to reach her first Grand Slam final. She will next face either Maria Sharapova or Sabine Lisicki on Saturday.
“I’m really happy that my serve was good in the third set,” Kvitova said.
Kvitova was playing in only her second major semifinal, and she dictated the play throughout the match. The Czech left—hander had 40 winners and 14 unforced errors, while Azarenka had only nine winners and seven unforced errors.
And it was Azarenka’s serve that finished it when the fourth—seeded Belarusian committed her second double—fault of the day on match point.
In the first set, Kvitova twice broke Azarenka’s serve and saved the only break point she faced. She finished the set with six aces.
But Azarenka responded in the second, finally converting a break point in the second game to take a 2—0 lead. She held the rest of the way and evened the match, but couldn’t do much about her opponent’s serve.
Kvitova lost only one point in the opening game of the third set, and then broke for a 2—0 lead. At 3—1, Azarenka had two break points, but Kvitova saved them both and then won the next two points to make it 4—1.
Kvitova is the first left—handed player to reach the Wimbledon final since Martina Navratilova in 1994. Navratilova, who won the title nine times and was in the crowd Thursday, and Ann Jones (in 1969) are the only ones to win the title at the All England Club.
The last lefty to even reach a women’s final was Monica Seles at the 1998 French Open.
