SCOTT SIMON, Host:
Time now for sports.
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SIMON: And boy did Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic dominate the court at Wimbledon. She won 6-3, 6-4. Basketball players have been kicked off the court in a labor dispute that could wind up in court. Howard Bryant of WESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine joins us. Morning, Howard. Thanks for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: How are you?
SIMON: Fine, thank you. Boy, she didn't leave much room for doubt in her defeat of Sharapova today, did she?
BRYANT: And Kvitova, with that left-handed serve and great court coverage and great return of serve, and she was tough. She led 2-0 in the second set and Sharapova came back 3-3 with the serve, and then she broke her and then finished if off. It was really tremendous and everyone wonders what you're going to do on that big stage for the first time. And as a 21-year-old, she stood tall and she's got a championship. It was terrific.
SIMON: And let's ask about the men's final tomorrow. Of course, Novak Djokovic faces Rafael Nadal.
BRYANT: And to that would really cap off his year. He only won 43 straight matches, and he's only lost one. He's 47 and one this year - some ridiculous number. And this is the matchup in a five set championship final at Wimbledon that everyone's been waiting for.
SIMON: Want to draw you out, Howard, on the lockout this week. The NBA team owners have locked out their players. Of course, it's the second labor action for a major sport this year. Do you find this lockout, the NBA lockout, a lot more urgent than the NFL one?
BRYANT: And I think what the NBA's trying to do right now is to engineer a massive rollback of the one holy grail for unions, and that is the guaranteed money. And I don't think the players are going to budge on that. I think the - I don't think you're going to see the season start on time, and I think this one might be as bad as anything that we've seen - baseball included, believe it or not.
SIMON: Howard Bryant of ESPN.com and ESPN, the magazine. Thanks so much.
BRYANT: My pleasure.
SIMON: You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.