Petra Kvitova's Wimbledon triumph - Start of a New Era
Today we witnessed a start of a new era with Petra Kvitova defeating Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-4 in the Wimbledon final. It was a sensational performance for a first time finalist. Maria Sharapova was outplayed in the 1st set and even though Sharapova fought hard in the 2nd set and got a couple of breaks, Kvitova broke back each time and held her composure well. Kvitova fought off the nerves to serve out the match to love, even serving her first ace on match point.
I saw Kvitova for the first time two weeks ago. I travelled to Eastbourne to watch the Aegon International final between Kvitova and Marion Bartoli of France. That final lasted 2hrs and 30 minutes and was an interesting match just before Wimbledon. Kvitova lost the match in 3 sets but I was very impressed with her game and attitude.
The first set went by like a flash as Kvitova lost the 1st set 6-1 in 29 minutes. Kvitova was hitting shots all over the place and couldn’t get the ball in court for more than three shots at any one time. It was surprising as she’d played her semi final just two hours earlier due to rain the day before. So you would have expected her to be in good form from the off.
Kvitova started the 2nd set much the same way going a break down early with Bartoli hitting her trademark groundstrokes. Then, all of a sudden, literally, Kvitova started making her serves and hitting winners, and the whole match turned around with Kvitova breaking back and winning the 2nd set 6-4. The 3rd set was also tight but in the end Bartoli’s desire and greater experience came through to take the title.
Even though Kvitova lost the match, a few things were quite impressive about her performance. Despite losing the 1st set so convincingly, Kvitova was willing to go for her shots and once her shots went in, she was very dangerous. Kvitova also has a great lefty serve which she uses to advantage on both deuce and ad courts. She also likes the one two punch combination of getting a quick serve and hitting a winner on the next shot.
Kvitova has definitely grown since losing the 2010 Wimbledon semi final to Serena Willians, she’s now 6 feet tall. That affected her on low balls as she was reluctant to really get down low to shots. However, she has a great slice and has very good volleying skills and always prepared to slice the short ball and attack the net. I found myself really enjoying watching Kvitova when she gets it right. She’d already won a couple of tournaments this year including Brisbane on hard courts, Paris indoors and Madrid on clay.
In the Wimbledon semi final against Victoria Azarenka, Kvitova played some of the best Tennis not seen for years in the womens game. Kvitova won the 1st set 6-1 and Azarenka had no chance. In fact, Azarenka played reasonably well with not too many errors but was blown away by a serving exhibition and the ability to hit winners anywhere on the court in an absolutely effortless manner, always the sign of a naturally talented player.
Kvitova tightened up in the 2nd set, allowing Azarenka to get back in the match. However, Kvitova got her mind back together in the 3rd set and once again her shotmaking proved too much for Azarenka.
One of the reasons for that is that Kvitova possesses that rare gift which we haven’t seen in the womens game for some time, the match is often on her racquet. If Kvitova plays well, she will win more often than not because her opponent will be overwhelmed. That hasn’t really happened since the likes of Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin came through as teenagers ten years ago. In the last few years we’ve had a succession of players who don’t really have extra skill or an x factor. Some may point to Ana Ivanovic but Ivanovic doesn’t possess the serving ability of Kvitova which is one of the reasons her game has fallen away so dramatically.
Kvitova certainly has the opportunity to become the best player in the world as long as she has the desire to keep improving and become more consistent on all surfaces, whilst keeping the spontaneity in her game which the crowd loves to see in naturally talented players. Now with a Wimbledon triumph under her belt, this really is the start of a new era.
It's great living in Eastbourne! I feel so privileged to see such great players virtually on my doorstep! Kvitova and Bartoli this year were both thrilling. Glad you could get along to finals day, and I enjoyed the article Laurie!
ReplyDeletePS: You wanna follow my blog as well, Laurie? Please do: I'm starved of followers! :)
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