Kvitova thrilled at reaching final

Petra Kvitova could not hide her delight after reaching the Wimbledon final for the first time in her career with a three-set victory over fourth seed Victoria Azarenka.

Kvitova, seeded eighth, motored to a first set victory but had to dig deep to clinch victory after Azarenka took the second set in the 6-1 3-6 6-2 success.
The win meant the Czech Republic will have a player in the final for the first time since Jana Novotna beat Nathalie Tauziat to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish in 1998.
The 21-year-old, who will now face Maria Sharapova in Saturday's final, could not have been happier as she reflected on the win, saying: "I think this is the best day of my career.
"It's something unbelievable be in the final of Wimbledon.
"I am surprised to be in the final. When I came here, I just wanted to play match after match and nothing more."
Sharapova, champion here in 2004, sealed her second final berth at SW19 when she breezed past Sabine Lisicki in straight sets following Kvitova's win.
The two finalists have never met each other in a major, but their head to head record of three wins apiece means Saturday's Centre Court clash should be a tight affair.
The fact that Sharapova has already won a championship here means she will go into the final as favourite, and Kvitova thinks the Russian will be tough to beat.
"She has experience. She won here already so she knows how it is going in the final at the Wimbledon. She has an advantage because of this," said Kvitova, who lost to Sharapova in the pair's last meeting in Rome.
"But we played already (in Rome) and I lost, so now I have to beat her," she added, smiling.
Kvitova's blistering serve proved key to her victory on Thursday, reaching 113mph and landing nine aces on her way to victory.
Her mental strength will also serve her well against Sharapova, who Kvitova thinks is playing at the top of her game at the moment.
"She's playing so hard and she has a big serve and she's moving well too," the 21-year-old said.
Azarenka, who was playing in her first grand slam semi-final, thinks Kvitova can pull off a shock against Sharapova though.
"I think she can beat anybody any day, because right now she has a really good game," the Belarusian said of Kvitova.
"She's really going for it. If she plays like she played today [Thursday] then I'm sure she will have every chance of winning the next match."
Azarenka was philosophical about her defeat, insisting she will bounce back from another failure to deliver in the latter stages of a major.
"I'm not going to sit here and cry because I lost the match," Azarenka said.
"I am disappointed with the loss though. I have demanded a lot of myself but I have to keep working hard.
"I'm just going to go rest a little bit, regroup, and get ready for the hard court season. There is no other way."