KEY POINTS:
Nicole Vaidisova was never a huge fan of grass. Beating Wimbledon tennis champion Amelie Mauresmo rapidly changed her mind today.
In a match bedevilled by rain breaks, the Czech teenager held her nerve to topple the titleholder 7-6 4-6 6-1 on Wimbledon's centre court.
"I'm not a huge
fan of grass," she admitted after one of the biggest wins of her career on the sport's greatest stage.
"Of course I like it now," she said.
"It's fun to challenge yourself with the surface once in a while. We just play one, two tournaments on it a year, so make the most of it."
She felt she had nothing to lose.
"I just came out there hitting and fighting for every point. In the end it worked out for me."
Vaidisova, reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time, has found it hard to adapt because of her height.
"I'm tall so getting low of course on the ball is a challenge moving around," she said.
Fourth seed Mauresmo imploded in the deciding set and looked as if she could not wait to get off the court, the scene last year of her greatest triumph.
Vaidisova, who had beaten Mauresmo in their last two encounters, refused to be overawed.
"I have a tremendous respect for Amelie," she said.
"I still have a huge respect for her. But on the court when you play, you try to win. You don't think about who is standing on the other side," the 14th seed said.
The 18-year-old from Prague was given a big confidence boost when she reached the last four in Paris last year and she is currently ranked No 10 in the world after making it to the semifinals in this year's Australian Open.
This is her best Wimbledon result in three attempts. Her quarterfinal opponent is Serb Ana Ivanovic.
Vaidisova, who was born in Germany and adopted Steffi Graf as her role model, said "every one of those big matches gives you confidence, gives you more experience for the next match".
RESULTS
WOMEN:
(14) Nicole Vaidisova def. (4) Amelie Mauresmo 7-6 4-6 6-1
(18) Marion Bartoli def. (3) Jelena Jankovic 3-6 7-5 6-3
(5) Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Tamira Paszek 6-3 6-2
(6) Ana Ivanovic def. (11) Nadia Petrova 6-1 2-6 6-4
MEN:
(16) Lleyton Hewitt def. Guillermo Canas 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4
(6) Nikolay Davydenko def. Gael Monfils 6-3 7-5 6-3
(20) Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Janko Tipsarevic 7-5 6-3 7-6
- REUTERS