Khan Sharapova regain the It factor on the grounds of Wimbledon?

Commentary begins with Maria Sharapova evening the score in the second set of the Ladies final of the 2011 Wimbledon championship; more properly "The Championships, Wimbledon".

Sharapova is twenty-four years old.  At seventeen she won the title, its seemed, by waves of unconscious brilliance.

Her opponent today, Petra Kvitova of Belarus, is swinging her substantial pony-tail side to side while she returns the wide, flat returns that have been the key to Sharapova's game.  Martina (Navratilova, if I must include her last name) is Kvitova's idol.  Like the early Martina, Kvitova is  playing off the base line and goes for shots from every angle and depth of the court.

Kvitova won the first set at 6-3.  She ran out to a 3-2 lead and served for 4-2.   Sharapova repelled her and brought the set to 3-3.  Because the women play the the best out of three sets, Sharapova's serves and ground-strokes in this game could get bring her into a winning rhythm.  Instead she gets broken again.

Kvitova to serve.  At 15-15, Kvitova drives the ball long. It's 15-30.  Next Maria is wide and then long.  40-30, advantage Kvitova.   Just one point for Kvitova to win the point and set: 6-3.   Kvitova wins this game and wins Wimbledon.

Sharapova squwheezes shouts from her esophagus three times and produces three points on her serve.  With the fourth serve, she invites a miss wide from Kvitova.   Thus, it's Petra's turn to serve.   Here she must serve herself.  Two unhittable serves from Kvitova.  The third point: first serve into the net, second serve, Maria dumps into the net.  At forty-love, Kvitova serves for an ace.


Bingo. That's it: Petra Kvitova is the Wimbledon champion. What's more, she used an ace to win it all.   She smiles the smile of a relieved daughter and jubilant victor, hands stretched up a hundred and eighty degrees into the air.

The camera then turns to a close up, shoulder to top of the head, of her father, whose tears well up and throat appears to be choking for lack of oxygen.   Back and forth the lens moves from a frozen father to gamboling daughter.

Once the victory stand goes up, one final sweep to Kvitova's father.   His face is not so red -- after the adrenalin flow, his exposed skin has turned grey.