Top-seeded Li Na won her third career title and first of 2010 Sunday in Birmingham's AEGON Classic, beating second-seeded Maria Sharapova 7-5, 6-1 in the final.

Li had a tremendous start to 2010 with a run to the semifinals of the Australian Open, in the process becoming the first Chinese woman ever to make the WTA top ten.  But she didn't match that success through the rest of the year, losing early in several tournaments and falling in the third round of the French Open to Francesca Schiavone (a loss that doesn't look quite so bad in retrospect.

Li has made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon before so her chops on the surface are well established, but many still favored Sharapova to win this title.  Sharapova had broken through at Wimbledon, both with her shocking fourth round appearance in 2003 as a sixteen year-old and again in 2004 as a seventeen year-old champion.  But it hasn't been a particularly strong surface for her of late, with stronger results generally coming on hard courts.

Sharapova's serve, which has been an issue all year, was again a factor in the Birmingham final, as evidenced by her throwing in six double faults in the first set alone. 

On experience and reputation most would still give Sharapova a better chance than Li to make a deep run at Wimbledon, but perhaps Li's recent success at slams and Sharapova's recent shortcomings on grass could change some minds.