djokovic nadal

The current No. 1 vs. the current No. 2. The new No. 1 vs. the new No. 2 (as of Monday's rankings). Australian Open champion pitted against the winner of the French. US Open finals rematch. Ten-time major champion versus two-time major winner. The reigning king against his would-be conquerer, who just happens to be 4-0 against him this season.

Need any more reasons to watch Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic square off in the Wimbledon final on Sunday morning?

The French Open final we were all waiting for turned into the Wimbledon championship bout few were expecting. It's not that Novak Djokovic was a dark horse entering play at the All England Club, but for a guy with a 41-1 record on the season, he wasn't getting much hype as a potential champion. Nadal and six-time winner Roger Federer were the favorites and it was thought that Djokovic's checkered history on grass would send him packing before a final.

He cruised through the early rounds though, holding off a brief challenge from

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Petra Kvitova defeated Maria Sharapova in Saturday's women's final at Wimbledon. How did the 21-year-old Czech defeat the three-time Grand Slam champion to pull the upset and become the youngest winner at the All England Club since Sharapova won at age 17 in 2004?

1. Attacked Sharapova's second serve. It's always a matter of when, not if, Sharapova will develop the yips on her serve. That moment came early in Saturday's final and gave Kvitova the first momentum swing of the match. Serving at 2-3, 30-30, Sharapova uncorked four wild serves in a row to give Kvitova the early break. The Czech consolidated in her next service game and soon after the first set was hers.

More important than the double faults was Kvitova's return of Sharapova's second serves. Unlike Sabine Lisicki in the semis, who was content to get the ball back in play to start rallies, Kvitova took a step inside the baseline and pounded Sharapova's second serves. This allowed for easy winners off the return or to set up

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Maria Sharapova plays for her second Wimbledon title on Saturday against No. 9 seed Petra Kvitova. Busted Racquet previews and predicts the final.

Stats

• Sharapova is playing in her fourth Grand Slam final. She's won three -- Wimbledon, 2004; U.S. Open, 2006; and Australian Open, 2008. This is the first major final for Kvitova.

• With a victory, Sharapova would move to No. 3 in the world. Kvitova is No. 7 with a win.

• Sharapova hasn't lost a set en route to the final. She's held opponents to three games or less in nine of her 12 sets.

• In the Open era, 20 of the 62 women playing in their first Grand Slam final have gone on to win the match.

• Mindblowing stat No. 1: If Sharapova wins, she'll become the youngest Wimbledon champion since she won as a 17-year-old in 2004. She is 24.

Mindblowing stat No. 2: This is only the fourth final since 1977 that doesn't include either Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf or one of the Williams sisters.

Strengths

Sharapova --

Not only did Andy Murray take the first set of his Wimbledon semifinal against Rafael Nadal, but he did so with such ease that the idea of him knocking off the 10-time Grand Slam champion and becoming the first British man to advance to the tournament final in 75 years seemed possible, if not likely.

Murray was hitting balls crisply and had the confidence that was on display throughout his run to the semifinals. Nadal was oddly reserved, almost as if he knew that if Murray continued to play at such a high level then there was little he could do.

Early in the second set, the world No. 4 had a chance to break open the match. Leading 30-15 on Nadal's serve, Murray had an opportunity to hit an easy forehand winner that would have given him two break points to go up 3-1. With the backing of the crowd at Centre Court and the boost of self-assurance the break would give him, Murray was on the brink. Get that forehand in and maybe, just maybe ...

Murray lost the next point and the next one

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They're clearly not tips on facial hair grooming or love notes to Feliciano Lopez, so what is it that's written all over Andy Murray's tennis bag at Wimbledon?

As part of a social media campaign with Head, Murray's bag at Wimbledon has been emblazoned with inspirational notes sent in by fans on Facebook. An example: "Andy, you are a true champion! This is your year! We believe in you!"

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The bag will be given away to one of Murray's Facebook followers after the tournament. Even if he wins the whole thing? Wouldn't The British Museum want to put that in a display if that happens?

That's a moot point now, as Murray lost to Rafael Nadal in their Wimbledon semifinal. As our friends at The Slice pointed out earlier on Twitter, Murray should hope somebody inscribed a note from a fan that included tips on how to get a ball past the speedy Nadal.

wimbledon cameraNBC did right by some tennis fans on Friday by showing the Andy Murray vs. Rafael Nadal semifinal live to viewers on the East Coast and Central time zones. The previous day, the network said it would only show the match live if it started after its coverage window began at noon ET. Nadal-Murray started a few minutes before noon, but NBC made the decision to join the match live in progress rather than airing it on a few minutes tape delay.

Viewers in the west did not receive similar treatment. They will see the full match beginning at noon in their respective time zones. Live streaming of the match is available across the country on NBCSports.com.

Now, let's not give too much credit to the Peacock Network for making the last-minute decision. If not for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga coming back to steal the third set from Novak Djokovic and pushing that match to the three-hour mark, this gracious act of television etiquette never would have come to fruition. The network was able to show

novak djokovic no. 1 wimb sf 11No matter what happens in Sunday's Wimbledon final, Novak Djokovic will take away Rafael Nadal's No. 1 ranking. The 24-year-old Serb earned enough rankings points to end Nadal's reign by virtue of his semifinal win. Losing Sunday's final to Nadal wouldn't change that.

Djokovic could get triple-bageled by Rafa while, at the same time, Deliciano Lopez hits on his girlfriend and still be No. 1. He could withdraw from the match and still the top player in the world. Heck, he could play in the women's final and get beat by Maria Sharapova. Doesn't matter. Rafa's out, Novak's in.

He becomes the 25th man to ever hold that position, joining legends like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and the two men who have had a stranglehold on the ranking since 2004, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. With one Grand Slam victory, two Grand Slam finals appearances and one semifinal, plus seven tournament victories this year and a 47-1 record, Djokovic is a worthy

When Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played this magnificent point early in their Wimbledon semifinal, I thought it would end up going down as the best one of the tournament. My downstairs neighbors likely agreed, as there's a good chance I woke them up with my loud, guttural yell after the point.

Turns out it wasn't even the best of the match. If we can call the last point a "Single Becker" (meaning one player sprawled out on Centre Court like Boris Becker in 1986), the one below, which took place two sets later, would be considered a "Double Becker."

As a sports fan, that's all you can ask for: two athletes who want to win so badly that they're playing out a routine point in the middle of a match like it's the last they'll ever play. The best part of it all: Djokovic-Tsonga is considered the undercard to Friday's much-anticipated semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

Racquet clap to @kohneyskorner