Seven years after winning Wimbledon as a raw 17-year-old, Maria Sharapova is back in the final, this time as a three-time Grand Slam winner and the heavy favourite.

Petra Kvitova is preparing for her first Grand Slam final. The 21-year-old Czech might be dreaming of a debut like that of her Russian rival, who overpowered the top-seeded Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 in 2004 to make her mark as a future superstar of the women’s game.

The seven-year gap between Wimbledon finals might surprise some, but it’s not something that troubles Sharapova.

“That’s the way it goes,” Sharapova said yesterday. “You obviously hope that you can be in the final stages every single year, but I guess it’s just not meant to happen. This is the year I’m supposed to be back in the final. I don’t know why. I’m not going to question it.”

Since 2004, Sharapova has added the 2006 US Open and the 2008 Australian Open titles. She also has recovered from shoulder surgery in October 2008 that took her off the singles court for nearly 10 months and necessitated a change in her service motion.

Today’s match against Kvitova will be her first Grand Slam final since 2008. It is these moments that Sharapova visualized while nursing her shoulder back to health.

Looking back to the 2004 final, Sharapova said she spent the day trying to recover from illness. As she looked ahead to the biggest match of her career, Kvitova dismissed talk of nerves.

“No, I’m not nervous,” she said. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow, for sure. I slept well. It’s OK.”

If Kvitova can hold her nerve, the final could come down to the serve. The left-handed Kvitova has hit 35 aces in her six matches so far and it was her serve that was a determining factor in her semi-final win over fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka.