Maria Sharapova v Petra Kvitova – Wimbledon 2011 women’s final live! | Scott Murray

• Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk with all your thoughts • Press F5 to refresh this page or use our auto-refresher Here they come. A long march through the clubhouse. Both women are given huge sprays of flowers before they take to the court. Kvitova smiles shyly. Sharapova looks stern and serious. Both look nervous as they wait to be announced to Centre Court. And they have a fair old wait before they’re allowed to enter the arena. Which they eventually do, to trademark polite Wimbledon applause. If I’m ranking the flowers, Sharapova’s arrangement looks a bit more varied in colour to me. Kvitova’s bunch is a tad purple heavy. Too many Purple Flowers (purplus indigo flowerum) . Sharapova wins the toss, but strangely allows Kvitova to serve first. Hugely Talented Sports Star In Feet On Ground shock: Kvitova’s just been interviewed on the BBC. A more charming chat you’ll do well to lug in on. Do you like designer gear, she’s asked? “Nah. I like normal clothes, jeans and t-shirt. Sometimes a dress. I don’t want to change, I just want to be like everyone else, I’m nothing special.” The crowd: Increasingly unfunny. The weather: Overcast / sunny. They’ll be out soon to knock up. Play begins at 2pm. And with the dust coming down, the two deserving finalists are Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova. The 24-year-old Russian is hot favourite to win her first slam since the Australian Open in 2008 – it would be her second Wimbledon title, after the victory in 2004 which saw her introduce the concept of text messaging to Sue Barker – but the 21-year-old big-hitting left-handed Czech is hotly tipped as a future slam winner. Here’s hoping for a classic tussle to put the cherry on a fine 2011 tournament. You can’t knock the quality of the Ladies Singles this year. The intensity of the fascinating Marion Bartoli. Amazing comebacks for Venus and Serena Williams. Shocking defeats – possibly of the harbinger variety – for Venus and Serena Williams. Promising performances by Plucky Brits® Heather Watson and Laura Robson. The wildcard heroics of Sabine Lisicki. Barry Davies back in the commentary box. The simply astonishing Kimiko Date-Krumm. It’s been a blast . Those who continually knock the women’s game want to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror. Wimbledon 2011 Wimbledon Maria Sharapova Petra Kvitova Tennis Scott Murray guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 2, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.