High-flying ace Serena Williams advances to Wimbledon final

Reporting from Wimbledon, England — Petra Kvitova announced herself to Serena Williams with high-pitched squeals, forceful fist pumps and a tennis game of varied pace marked by volleys and lobs and, stunning to many, an early service break and an advantage over the world’s top player in women’s tennis.

But Williams has something Kvitova doesn’t have.

The serve.

Kvitova has a serve but not the serve, not the consistently angry first shot that is blasted with power and purpose. Former player Pam Shriver calls Williams’ serve possibly the best shot in the history of women’s tennis.

Williams’ serve pulled her out of a little trouble Thursday and put her in her sixth Wimbledon final, as she overpowered 62nd-ranked Kvitova, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

The 28-year-old defending champion will go after her fourth title here against 21st-seeded Vera Zvonareva from Russia. Zvonareva, 25, kept her calm after an error-filled first set and advanced to her first major tournament final by beating 82nd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Williams played without the bandage she had on her right shoulder Wednesday when she and her sister Venus Williams were upset in doubles. Serena showed no evidence of favoring that serving shoulder, which has produced a tournament-leading 80 aces so far.

In comparison, the No. 2 producer of aces so far at Wimbledon has been Venus — with 30. Zvonareva has hit 23 but also has 22 double faults; Serena has only 12 double faults.

Serena said she wore the bandage Wednesday to protect herself from soreness, which had come for one reason: “I had hit too many aces. My shoulder was done, so just trying to recover,” she said with a smile.

Against Kvitova, Williams had a relatively pedestrian seven aces, but she had 31 service winners, and she kept Kvitova on the defensive when the Czech lefthander, playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal, was able to keep a return in play.

But Kvitova also had an early strategy of going for winners, and for awhile her fearlessness paid off. Her English was spotty, but the meaning was clear when she said, “So I didn’t was nervous too much.”

On Centre Court that was interpreted as Kvitova handling Williams’ power with some of her own and having enough confidence to take the first service break, in the fifth game, on a backhand return winner.

Kvitova immediately consolidated the break by holding her own serve and leading 4-2. Williams broke back in the eighth game. The 28-year-old American also raced ahead 4-0 in the tiebreak and then held on to win the 58-minute set with a 118-mph service winner.

Williams described the difference in the first and second sets simply: “I think I attacked my points better in the second set.”

Even though Williams was firmly in command in the second set, she was on the wrong end of perhaps the most spectacular point of the tournament — a 19-stroke rally that featured lobs, offensive and defensive, pinpoint groundstrokes and, finally, a textbook forehand volley by Kvitova to win.

But after all, it was only a single point that put her on deuce on her serve. Two points later, she double-faulted, and her serve was broken.

“That was really exciting,” Williams said. “Believe it or not, I even thought so. I thought if I could have won that rally, it would have been an awesome fist pump.”

Zvonareva, 25, is entering her first Grand Slam final — it’s the first time in three years that Serena won’t play her sister Venus for the championship. The Russian has been ranked as high as No. 5 in the world, though she has had to fight a serious ankle injury and a reputation for succumbing to nerves.

“I always believe in myself,” Zvonareva said. “I can break the racket, but it doesn’t mean I’m not there in the match.”

She has beaten Williams once in six tries and learned something in the process.

“I will have to stay aggressive no matter what,” she said. “Because when Serena dominates, she’s very difficult to play.”

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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