By hitting back at her critics and qualifying for the Wimbledon women’s final, Maria Sharapova dispelled fears of becoming another version of the former pin-up and soon-to-be Mrs Enrique Iglesias, Anna Kournikova.

At the back of her previous victory at Wimbledon, Sharapova has done precious little to endure herself to tennis puritans and chose instead to keep the bank balance tidy with endorsement deals as opposed to prize money.

To be fair, Majestic Maria has been struggling with a recurring shoulder injury that kept her from the court and competitive tennis for close to two seasons. The leggy, blonde Russian is back to her graceful best however, and taking Europe by storm; first at Roland Garros and now at the iconic All England Tennis Club.

On Saturday she squared up to another Eastern European non-brunette, Petra Kvitova, who has been equally impressive in the South West suburb of London recently. Sharapova lost 6-3 6-4, but managed the feat of not dropping a single set on the road to the final, which in itself is a huge accomplishment. Kvitova does appear to be the more aggressive of the two and has that grit and determination to her play, as was evident in her comeback in the third set against Victoria Azarenka. Rather surpisingly Azarenka backed Kvitova to take the title immediately after her defeat in the quarter final, saying “I think she can beat anybody any day, because right now she has really good game.”

How the title is won matters little on the day, but who doesn’t recall with fond memories the 1993 Wimbledon battle between Steffi “the queen” Graf and Jana “always the bridesmaid” Novotna? Where Novotna had the finesse with her serve and volley game, yet the German possessed that “never say die” attitude so many winners enjoy. The Czech came out guns blazing and quickly made slim pickings of the first set, taking it 7-6. She led 4-1 in the second and was perfectly staged for the kill at 40-30 in the sixth game, but she double-faulted and the greatest disintegration in a Wimbledon final had begun. Graf ended up taking the silverware and Novotna the steady supply of tissues from the Dutchess of Kent.

That final will probably never be emulated, but what would definitely be identical to it on this coming Saturday in 2011 (except Kvitova also being Czech) is that the person who wants it the most will eventually take it. Will it be grace over grit or finesse over aggression? Who knows, I’ve got a feeling this Czech might surprise us in the end.

A. Waldeck