• Wimbledon, Day 10

Young pretender Kvitova poised to make her mark

Maria Sharapova will bid to claim her fourth grand slam title on Saturday © PA Photos

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Wimbledon Day 10 Gallery
Plays of the Day: Day 10
Sharapova digs deep to reach final
Kvitova reaches first grand slam final
What They Said

What a difference a month makes. Back at the end of June, Maria Sharapova was the youngest of the four French Open semi-finalists.

Sharapova lost her semi-final to Na Li, who went on to make history at Roland Garros, in what was the oldest women's grand slam final since 1998, when Jana Novotna defeated Nathalie Tauziat to win her only grand slam title at Wimbledon.

Li, 29, and 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone, 30 trumped their younger semi-final opponents - Li beat 24-year-old Sharapova, while Schiavone saw off 26-year-old Marion Bartoli.

With just one teenager in the world's top 40 (and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova turns 20 on Sunday) it is not an anomaly - just take a look at the current grand slam champions. Li is not the oldest grand slam champion - outgoing Wimbledon champion Serena Williams turns 30 in September, while US and Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters is not far behind, at 28.

Gone are the days of the teenage prodigy - the Jennifer Capriatis and Martina Hingises of the future are protected at a younger age for fear of burnout. In many ways, Sharapova is the last of a dying breed - the last teenage grand slam champion - aged 19 at the 2006 US Open.

In many ways, it is hard to believe Sharapova is still only 24 - she seems to have been around forever. But after a nasty shoulder injury, she is in her first major final in three-and-a-half years. Her last grand slam title came at the 2008 Australian Open, and her first was back in 2004, when she was just 17.

From being the young whippersnapper in Paris, she is now very much the veteran in London. The only quarter-finalist with a grand slam title to her name, and the oldest semi-finalist by three years.

Petra Kvitova is playing in her first grand slam final © Getty Images

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We thought it would be Caroline Wozniacki who would be the youngster to finally see off the challenge of the old guard, but instead it is Petra Kvitova who is on the verge of such glory.

While Sharapova was miles off her best in her victory over Sabine Lisicki, the Russian is in her best form for years. A semi-final appearance at Roland Garros followed her first career title on clay in Rome. In fact, her defeat to Li is her only defeat in 17 matches.

Sharapova knows she will have to step up her game, and she could be punished for such a slow start against Kvitova.

It has been an impressive season for the 21-year-old. Having been ranked outside the world's top 30 at the start of the year, titles in Brisbane and Madrid have seen the left-hander break into the world's top ten, and she proved that last year's semi-final run at Wimbledon was no fluke.

With a booming serve and equally thunderous ground strokes, her game is well-suited to the grass - but it will be a real step up against Sharapova, who she has never beaten. Sharapova is the outstanding favourite - she has experience on her side - but what Kvitova lacks in experience she makes up for in sheer guts and power.

And Sharapova of all people knows that experience is not everything - back in 2004, as a 17-year-old she denied top seed Serena a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles, having never previously made it past the quarter-finals of a grand slam.

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