Djokovic beats Nadal to win Wimbledon title (AP)

WIMBLEDON, England – When Novak Djokovic realized he was the Wimbledon champion, he fell to the ground and covered the grass like a blanket.

It was a fitting celebration for a man whose court coverage was the biggest reason he was able to defeat defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in Sunday's final.

Djokovic, who was already guaranteed to take over the No. 1 ranking from the Spaniard on Monday, won his first Wimbledon title and extended his mastery over Nadal this season with a fifth straight head-to-head victory.

After shaking hands with Nadal at the net, Djokovic walked back out on court and crouched down. He pulled a blade or two of grass out of the manicured lawn and put it in his mouth.

"It's really hard to describe this with any words except the best day of my life, most special day of my life," said Djokovic, who tossed three of his rackets into the crowd before accepting the championship trophy. "This is my favorite tournament, the tournament I always dreamed of winning. The first tennis tournament I ever watched in my life."

Djokovic assured himself of the top ranking just by reaching the final. He opened the season with 41 straight wins, including the Australian Open title, but his 43-match winning streak came to an end against Roger Federer in the French Open semifinals.

The victory over Nadal improved Djokovic's record in 2011 to 48-1, with five of the wins coming against the Spaniard in finals — two on hard courts, two on clay and now one on grass. Sunday's win was the first grass-court title of his career.

Serbian President Boris Tadic was in the Royal Box along with several former champions to watch the match on Centre Court, and when Nadal sent a backhand long on match point, Djokovic turned to face them and dropped to the turf, lying on his back with his arms spread wide.

"When you're playing the best player in the world, Rafael Nadal, who has won two out of the last three Wimbledons, and he's always been winning the big matches against me in the Grand Slams, I had to be on the top of my game. I had to play my best and I think I played, really, probably my best match on the grass courts ever," Djokovic said. "I want to congratulate him again for having a great tournament."

During the match, it was Djokovic's incredible movement and precise shot placement that gave him the first two sets. His play dipped in the third, but it returned in the fourth to secure him a third Grand Slam title.

Nadal had won 20 straight matches at the All England Club, including the 2008 and '10 titles. He missed the 2009 tournament because of injury, but was playing in his fifth Wimbledon final in six years.

Nadal injured his left foot in a fourth-round win, but painkilling injections helped him roll through the next two rounds and into the final.

Djokovic consistently landed shots while taking advantage of any slight miscue from Nadal. The first and biggest of the opening set came in the final game, when Djokovic hit a forehand winner down the line.

Nadal followed that with a pair of unforced errors, and the second-seeded Serb won the set on the first break point of the match.

Djokovic dominated the second set, breaking Nadal twice while holding serve easily. It wasn't until the second game of the third set that Nadal finally managed to do something with Djokovic's serve, breaking for a 2-0 lead when the Serb dumped a backhand into the net.

Nadal broke again and eventually won the set, and the two traded service breaks early in the fourth. But after Djokovic held to 4-3 in the final set with four straight points, Nadal double-faulted for the first time. He lost the next two points and soon was broken again when he sent a backhand long.

"For me it's a dream another time be back in this final," said Nadal, a 10-time Grand Slam champion. "Today wasn't possible. I tried my best as always; today one player play better than me. I will try another time next year."

The loss to Djokovic on Sunday was Nadal's first in a major final to a player other than Federer.

"When I won in 2008 for the first time, the emotions was very high so I can imagine how (Novak feels) today," said Nadal, who lost to Federer in the 2006 and '07 finals. "It's a special day and another time I congratulate him."

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Kvitova beats Sharapova at Wimbledon for 1st major (AP)

WIMBLEDON, England – One might reasonably have expected Petra Kvitova, not Maria Sharapova, to be betrayed by nerves in the Wimbledon final.

This was, after all, Kvitova's first Grand Slam championship match, while Sharapova already owned three major titles, including one from the All England Club. So Kvitova decided to pretend she was heading out on Centre Court to play in the fourth round.

That mindset worked. So, too, did nearly everything Kvitova tried once play began, particularly her big, flat left-handed groundstrokes that pushed Sharapova back on her heels. In a surprisingly lopsided final, Kvitova beat the higher-seeded, yet shakier, Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 Saturday to win Wimbledon for her first Grand Slam trophy.

"I was surprised how I was feeling on the court," Kvitova said, "because I was focused only on the point and on the game and not on the final."

If there were those who wondered how the eighth-seeded Kvitova would handle the setting and the pressure, her coach did not.

Indeed, David Kotyza had an inkling his new pupil possessed the right stuff to win titles shortly after they began working together about 2 1/2 years ago. That's because he was wowed by the several pages of handwritten answers Kvitova supplied for a questionnaire he gave her back then — and has kept to this day.

"I was really surprised about how she thinks about tennis, how clever she is. She told me her advantages, disadvantages, what she has to improve," Kotyza said, then pointed a finger to his temple and added: "Her brain is a big advantage for this game."

When she was a kid growing up in Fulnek, Czech Republic — population: 6,000 — and practicing an hour or so after school each day, Kvitova didn't count on becoming a professional tennis player. She simply wasn't that good, yet. Clearly, she's a quick study.

Before Wimbledon in 2010, Kvitova's career record on grass was 0-4. She is 16-2 on the slick surface since, including a run to the semifinals here last year before losing to Serena Williams.

At 21, Kvitova is the youngest Wimbledon champion since — you guessed it — Sharapova was 17 in 2004. Kvitova is also the first Czech to win the tournament since Jana Novotna in 1998.

Plus, Kvitova is only the third left-handed woman to win the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. The last was Martina Navratilova, who won her ninth Wimbledon title in 1990, a few months after Kvitova was born.

"I'm thrilled for her. She played brave tennis, and she deserved to win. She was by far the better player," said Navratilova, who was born in Czechoslovakia and sat near Novotna in the Royal Box on Saturday. "I don't think this is the only time she'll win here. It's very exciting. A new star."

That last phrase was being uttered by many people around the grounds after Kvitova managed to make Sharapova look rather ordinary.

Consider: Until Saturday, Sharapova had won all 12 sets she played over the last two weeks. But, as Sharapova's coach Thomas Hogstedt summed up afterward: "One played well. The other didn't play well. Maria didn't play as good as she can."

That was, at least in part, Kvitova's doing.

She compiled 19 winners, most by zipping her heavy forehands and backhands from the baseline, where her 6-foot frame and long arms helped her get to seemingly out-of-reach balls.

"She created offensive opportunities from tough positions on the court," Sharapova said. "Sometimes it's just too good."

Kvitova also broke Sharapova five times, anticipating where serves were headed.

It helped that Sharapova double-faulted six times, although at least those were fewer than the 13 the Russian hit in the semifinals.

"She performed incredible. Sometimes, when you don't know what to expect and you don't know how you're going to feel, sometimes you play your best, because you have that feeling of nothing to lose," said the fifth-seeded Sharapova, who was playing in a major final for the first time since right shoulder surgery in October 2008. "She went for it, absolutely."

What really was odd was seeing the experienced and normally gritty Sharapova bothered by distractions such as the swarms of tiny greenflies that showed up Saturday or the occasional clap or yell that came from the stands during points.

Even more stunning was the way Sharapova crumpled at key moments. One example: She double-faulted twice in a row to lose serve and fall behind 4-2 in the first set. Sharapova turned her back to the court and gave herself a little lecture, then smacked herself on her left palm with her racket.

Kvitova — now 4-1 in tournament finals this year — broke again to begin the second set, capping that game with a running forehand that caught the back edge of the baseline. The women exchanged four consecutive breaks in the middle of that set, before Kvitova — not Sharapova — gathered herself.

Ahead 4-3, but trailing 15-30 while serving, Kvitova hit three straight service winners to get to 5-3.

"She served quite hard. Her second serve was pretty big as well. She was going for it, for the second serve," Sharapova said. "I felt like I could have reacted a little bit better."

Credit Kvitova also for being at her steadiest in the most resolve-testing moments. She served out both sets at love, including with a 105 mph ace on match point.

What was running through her head right then?

"I have to do it now," she would say later.

After that last point — one last nerve-free point — Kvitova raised both arms, then dropped to her knees. A raucous celebration ensued in her guest box, including some overzealous chest-bumping that left one man knocked off his feet. Kvitova's allotted seats were completely filled — with her coach, parents, two brothers and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, among others — while Sharapova's section had only her agent, coach, hitting partner and fiance, New Jersey Nets guard Sasha Vujacic.

"When you lose in the final, you feel like the biggest loser in a way, but Maria is on the right track. She's working hard," Vujacic said. "She needed a lot of time to come back, and I think if she stays on the same road, there are many good things ahead of us."

Now there will be similar expectations of Kvitova.

Kotyza, her coach, said Kvitova's best quality probably is that "she's just an ordinary girl. She's standing with both feet on the ground. And I think it's very, very important for ... these matches. Because she's 'OK, just hit the ball, and we will see.'"

Asked after Saturday's victory when she first realized she might one day win a Grand Slam title, Kvitova smiled, tucked some strands of hair behind her ear and replied: "Probably yesterday."

___

Follow Howard Fendrich at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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Federer upset by Tsonga in Wimbledon quarterfinals (AP)

WIMBLEDON, England – Six-time champion Roger Federer was upset in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the second straight year Wednesday, squandering a two-set lead for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament and losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Federer barely looked challenged while winning the first two sets against the 12th-seeded Frenchman. But the Swiss star, who had been 178-0 in matches in which he had won the opening two sets at a major tournament, was broken one time in each of the last three sets.

"It's kind of hard going out of the tournament that way, but unfortunately it does happen sometimes," said Federer, who was playing in his 29th straight major quarterfinal. "At least it took him sort of a special performance to beat me, which is somewhat nice."

Federer may be right. The 16-time Grand Slam champion finished the match with only 11 unforced errors, half as many as Tsonga, but it didn't help him get close to breaking Tsonga's serve when he needed it.

"I was two sets down and I break. I did a good game of return and after that it was just amazing," said Tsonga, who had 63 winners, five more than Federer. "I just played unbelievable, served unbelievable and now I'm here, I'm in semifinal and I can't believe it."

Tsonga will face second-seeded Novak Djokovic, who defeated 18-year-old Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Later Wednesday, defending champion Rafael Nadal was playing Mardy Fish, while No. 4 Andy Murray was scheduled to take on Feliciano Lopez on Centre Court.

Federer was seeking to equal Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon singles titles. He breezed through his opening four matches, losing only one set, and played his usual elegant game against Tsonga.

In the first set, Federer earned his one and only break point of the match in Tsonga's first service game, and converted it. He held the rest of the way, and then won the second set in the tiebreaker.

But Tsonga finally got his first break in the third set, and another in the fourth and another in the fifth.

"He can come up with some good stuff and some poor things at times," Federer said. "He had basically good return games along the way in the third, fourth, and fifth. I think especially the third set, the break I get is very unusual. He chips back a couple, they stay in."

Those were the Frenchman's only three breaks, and they were just enough to send Federer home early again.

Federer has won six titles at the All England Club, including five in a row from 2003-07. He lost to Nadal in the 2008 final in what is considered by many to be one of the greatest matches ever, and then beat Andy Roddick for the championship a year later, winning 16-14 in the fifth set.

Last year, he lost to eventual runner-up Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals.

"It's the biggest champion in my sport," Tsonga said. "He achieved a lot of things and he's just the best player in the world and I'm just so happy to win against him, especially on grass because it's maybe one of his favorite surface and I'm just so happy today."

On Court 1, Djokovic overcame a tough match against his protege, holding on to reach the semifinals for the third time in his career.

Djokovic has been practicing with Tomic on-and-off since the two became friends last year in Australia, but this was the first meeting between the two in a competitive match.

After Tomic put a forehand into the net on match point, the pair had a brief chat at the net. Then, with the crowd applauding, Djokovic did the same while motioning toward Tomic.

"It was a very even match. In the first set I felt I played quite well," said Djokovic, who finished the match with fewer winners than Tomic, 43-39. "Then I played one really bad service game and he got back into the match. And from that moment on, he was the better player."

At the start, Djokovic appeared to have little to worry about, rolling through the first set and on his way to a fifth straight major semifinal. But Tomic didn't quit, instead breaking Djokovic to take a 3-1 lead in the second set and eventually evening the match.

"He is such an unpredictable player. He's very young, and obviously, first quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for him means a lot," Djokovic said. "But he didn't have anything to lose, so he was hitting a lot of winners today."

Tomic again went up a break in the third, but that's when Djokovic got going. The two-time Grand Slam champion won five straight games to take the third set, and then won the first two games in the fourth. Although Tomic got back on serve at 2-2 and was two points from winning the set at 5-4, Djokovic soon broke to take a 6-5 lead and held for victory.

"It was really hard to predict where he's going to go. He was not making a lot of unforced errors from the baseline, and that made my life really difficult," Djokovic said. "I tried to change the pace, but he was better at that. We were playing cat and mouse, I think. But in the end, I'm just happy to get through."

Djokovic started the 2011 season by winning 41 straight matches, but that came to an end with a loss to Federer in the French Open semifinals. If the Serb reaches the final at the All England Club for the first time this year, he will guarantee himself the No. 1 ranking. He can also claim the top ranking if Nadal fails to defend his title.

Tomic was the youngest man to start in the men's draw this year, and is the youngest to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since Boris Becker defended his title in 1986.

"I definitely think I belong with these guys," Tomic said. "I mean, sooner or later I'll play a player like Novak or Rafa and Roger where I'll have a win, but until then I've got to improve."

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Williams sisters, Wozniacki out at Wimbledon (AP)

WIMBLEDON, England – Venus and Serena Williams were both eliminated in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday, the first time in five years that neither sister will play in the quarterfinals at the All England Club.

Defending champion and four-time winner Serena was the first to go, beaten 6-3, 7-6 (6) by Marion Bartoli of France, cutting short the American's return to Grand Slam tennis after nearly a year out with serious health problems.

Older sister and five-time champion Venus was ousted 6-2, 6-3 by Tsvetana Pironkova — the exact same score of the Bulgarian's win in last year's quarterfinals.

Also knocked out was top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who fell 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to No. 24 Dominika Cibulkova in the Dane's latest failed attempt to win her first Grand Slam title.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Defending champion Serena Williams was eliminated by Marion Bartoli 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the fourth round of Wimbledon Monday, cutting short her return to Grand Slam tennis after nearly a year out with serious health problems.

Also knocked out was top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who fell 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to No. 24 Dominika Cibulkova in the Dane's latest failed attempt to win her first Grand Slam title.

Williams, a four-time winner at the All England Club, saved four match points before the ninth-seeded Frenchwoman closed out the contest by hitting a service winner into the corner. It was Williams' earliest exit at Wimbledon since a third-round loss in 2005.

Bartoli made the Wimbledon final in 2007, losing to Serena's older sister Venus.

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Roddick upset by Lopez in 3rd round at Wimbledon (AP)

WIMBLEDON, England – Three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick was eliminated 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 6-4 Friday by Feliciano Lopez in the third round, the biggest upset of the men's tournament so far.

The 44th-ranked Lopez served 28 aces and piled up 57 winners to defeat Roddick on Centre Court, the American's first loss to the Spanish left-hander in eight matches.

"He played an outstanding match," Roddick said. "I feel like he played as complete a match as he's played against me. He served about as well as someone has."

In a surprise on the women's side, second-seeded and 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva was knocked out 6-2, 6-3 by 33rd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. The Russian converted only one of seven break points and had 18 unforced errors. Pironkova upset Venus Williams here last year en route to the semifinals.

Williams, a five-time champion, set up a fourth-round rematch against Pironkova by routing Marcia Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-0, 6-2 in 1 hour on Court 1.

"Last year, I wasn't on my best game," Williams said. "But this year, I'm really going to look forward to really playing a little bit better than last year. Every now and then we all have bad days, but I'm planning to have a better one this year."

The eighth-seeded Roddick, who lost to Roger Federer in the finals in 2004, '05 and '09, served 16 aces but also had six double-faults. It's the third time in four years Roddick has lost in the early rounds — he went out in the second round in 2008 and the fourth last year.

"He played better than I did," Roddick said. "He beat me. It's easier for me to walk out of here with that and move forward with that than '08 where I lost to (Janko) Tipsarevic and I felt like I completely choked or last year where I just kind of had a million opportunities and kind of gave it away. Those are tougher to take now."

Lopez, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2005 and 2008, broke Roddick twice and had only seven unforced errors.

The Spaniard had lost to Roddick in all their previous matches, including the Wimbledon tuneup at Queen's Club two weeks ago.

"This was a big win for me," Lopez said. "I played Andy so many times and he always beat me. It was so important for me to win today. Even though he beat me before, to beat him at Wimbledon is the most special. I'm happy to pay him back here on this wonderful court."

Williams had 21 winners and only five unforced errors against Martinez Sanchez. It was a big change from her previous match, when Williams was stretched to three sets and three hours by 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm.

"The other match was three hours of nonstop running, so it felt like a marathon," she said. "I'm feeling good and it's great to be ready for the second week. I'll get a couple of days off to really get things in order."

Earlier, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, pursuing another bid for her first Grand Slam title, made only one unforced error in defeating Virginie Razzano 6-1, 6-3 to move into the third round.

The 20-year-old Dane was at the top of her game, downing the 96th-ranked Frenchwoman in 66 minutes in sunny conditions on Court 2 at the All England Club.

Wozniacki, who extended her career record against Razzano to 5-0, took command of the match from the beginning and was never in trouble.

Razzano saved three match points at 5-2 down in the second set and another in the next game before Wozniacki hit a service winner into the corner to close the match.

"I served pretty well today and ... dictated quite a few of the points," she said. "I was happy about the game."

In another early women's match, 2004 champion Maria Sharapova recovered from a slow start to beat 17-year-old British wild card Laura Robson 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Court 1. The Russian trailed 4-1 in the first set, and then 4-2 in the tiebreaker, before taking charge against the former Wimbledon junior champion.

"I started off really slow and she started off really well," Sharapova said. "Quite the opposite of me, I think she was much more aggressive than I was in the beginning. But then I just kind of got my rhythm a little bit and started playing better."

Wozniacki, who will face Jarmila Gajdosova, reached the fourth round at Wimbledon the past two years but has never made it to the quarterfinals. Despite her No. 1 ranking, she has never won a major title, losing at the 2009 U.S. Open to Kim Clijsters in her only Grand Slam final.

Wozniacki leads the tour this year with five titles, but lost in the third round at the French Open to extend her drought at the majors. She is guaranteed to hold onto the No. 1 ranking at least until August.

"I think I deserve to be where I am," Wozniacki said. "I won so many tournaments already, five this year. I'm playing good tennis. I'm young. I'm competitive. My time will come."

Wozniacki was asked about being put on Court 2, rather than Centre Court or Court 1. Five-time champion Serena Williams was asked Thursday why she and sister Venus, a five-time champion, had been scheduled on Court 2 while the top men had played only on the two main courts. The Williams sisters have combined to win nine of the last 11 Wimbledon titles.

"Obviously I think I deserve to play on one of the bigger courts," Wozniacki said. "It's up to the tournament to decide where we're going to play. I just go out there and I try to win. ... If (Serena) can play on Court 2, then I guess I can, too."

Elsewhere Friday, seventh-seeded David Ferrrer beat Ryan Harrison of the United States 6-7 (8), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The match had been suspended by darkness Thursday night in the fourth set.

In women's play, 2007 runner-up and No. 9-seeded Marion Bartoli beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the third round. No. 11 Andrea Petkovic was ousted by Russia's Ksenia Pervak, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Two-time Grand Slam titlist Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded 12th, was eliminated in the third round by No. 19 Yanina Wickmayer, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Advancing to the fourth round was No. 8 Petra Kvitova, who beat Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-3.

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