Maria Sharapova, the new kid on the tennis block, will be no one-slam wonder,
according to the most famous champion of all.
The 17-year-old Russian schoolgirl produced a stunning victory of fairytale
proportions to become the second youngest Wimbledon champion of the Open era.
Her 6-1 6-4 triumph over defending champion Serena Williams enabled Sharapova
to become the first Russian ever to win a Wimbledon singles title.
She is the youngest champion since a 16-year-old Martina Hingis beat Jana
Novotna in 1997 and before then you have to go all the way back to 1887 when
Lottie Dod became Wimbledon champion at the age of just 15.
Teenage prodigies are nothing new to the modern game, with Tracy Austin,
Andrea Jaeger and Jennifer Capriati all bursting onto the scene before they were
able to drive a car.
But Sharapova has what it takes to turn teenage triumph into the kind of
longevity enjoyed by Martina Navratilova, who - with wonderful symmetry -
brought the curtain down on her remarkable Wimbledon career minutes before the
end of the 17-year-old Russian's glorious Centre Court victory.
"Hingis won here and she was a year younger," said Navratilova, who did not
win the first of her nine Wimbledon singles titles until she was 21.
"We've had top 10 players before with Austin, Jaeger and Capriati so that's
not unusual.
"And she obviously has the body. I mean she's so long. Now she's grown into
it and she'll still get stronger.
"So it's great for women's tennis. It's the best thing that could have
happened to us really."
Navratilova, 47, bowed out of Wimbledon for the last time on Saturday after
failing to break Billie Jean King's record of titles.
The tennis legend, who has won a total of 167 singles titles and 173 doubles
titles, confirmed she had played her last match at the All England Club after
failing to reach the final of the women's doubles.
Navratilova's next target is the Olympic Games in Athens and she also plans
one last foray in the US Open, where Sharapova will next display her burgeoning
talent on the big stage.
The big question for the Siberian-born Sharapova is whether she can produce
her booming groundstrokes away from grass, where she has won her last 12
matches.
She is already up to eight in the world rankings and has the single-minded
determination to reach the very top of the women's game.
The leggy teenager, who fits her schoolwork in between her matches, won the
hearts of a nation as she sank to her knees in disbelief after battering former
world number one Williams into submission.
And if Sharapova, who reached the fourth round as a wild-card entrant at the
age of 16 a year ago, goes on to dominate women's tennis for the next decade,
she will look back to Wimbledon 2004 as the catalyst.
"That's where I started, that's where Federer started, it's a good place to
start winning a Grand Slam," said Navratilova.
"It's a fantastic achievement, especially the way she did it, really
dominating Serena. It was amazing.
"What a talent! We saw it from the beginning and she's just been very focused
on what she wanted to do, extremely committed to her cause and she loves to
play.
"That's the best part, she wants to be out there, she doesn't want to be
anywhere else. She's got her father behind her but she's there because she wants
to be there, not because he wants her to be there."
WIMBLEDON NEWS
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