• Wimbledon, Day Ten

What They Said

ESPN staff
June 30, 2011
Petra Kvitova will reach Maria Sharapova in the final © Getty Images
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ESPN.co.uk will be providing live scores and analysis from Wimbledon throughout the tournament.

Wimbledon Day 10 Gallery
Kvitova through to first major final
Sharapova digs deep to reach final

Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova overpowered Sabine Lisicki to reach her first grand slam final in three-and-a-half years. The last time she played in the final at Wimbledon, Sharapova won her maiden slam as a 17-year-old, back in 2004. However, after an error-strewn display against Lisicki, Sharapova admitted she would have to step up her game against Petra Kvitova. "It's amazing to be back in the final at Wimbledon, it's been a while," Sharapova said. "I'm really happy even though I didn't play my best tennis today. To be in the final is a great achievement for me but I still feel like I've got more to do."

Petra Kvitova booked her place in her first grand slam final with victory over Victoria Azarenka, but she admits she will be the underdog when she takes on Sharapova on Saturday."Yeah, of course she has experience. She won here already, so she knows how it is going in the final at Wimbledon," Kvitova said. "She has an advantage with this. But we played already and I lost, so now I have to beat her. It's something unbelievable to be in the final at Wimbledon. I'm happy with how I played because it was tough mentally."

Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka has lost to the eventual winner in all of her tournaments since March, and she believes that run can continue, with the fourth seed tipping Kvitova to go all the way: "I think she can beat anybody any day, because right now she has really good game," she said. "She's really going for it. She played a brilliant match today, and I have to give all the credit to her."

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