Petra Kvitova will start her 2013 season by participating in the Brisbane International tennis tournament in January. Kvitova had participated in this tournament twice in the past as well.
In 2009, she was knocked out of the tournament from the very first round after being defeated by Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. While in 2011, she won this tournament by defeating Nadia Petrova of Russia in the final.
Kvitova didn’t participate in Brisbane International this year and decided to begin her 2012 season by participating in the Hopman Cup. She performed quite well in the Hopman Cup and won four matches to help her team win the title.
She continued her form in the Apia International Sydney tennis tournament and the Australian Open as well and reached the semi finals of both these events. It was a great start for the Czech superstar and it seemed that she was on her way to become the no. 1 player in the world. But, unfortunately, she got injured and had to remain out of action for six weeks. After getting fit, she made a comeback by participating in the BNP Paribas Open, but, she didn’t manage to perform well in that tournament and was knocked out from the third round after being defeated by Christina Mchale of USA.
In the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships, Kvitova’s performance was quite decent. She reached the semi final in the French Open, while in the Wimbledon Championships; she managed to make her way into the quarterfinals.
After that, she won the Rogers Cup which was played at Montreal and then, grabbed her second title of the year by winning the New Haven Open. In the US Open, Kvitova performed decently and reached the fourth round where she was defeated by Marion Bartoli.
Overall, 2012 was not one of the best seasons for Kvitova and she would definitely like to improve her performance in the next season.
The no. 1 player of Serbia, Ana Ivanovic, defeated Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in a singles match in the final of the Federation cup. Ivanovic won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 7-5. It took her 1 hour and 47 minutes to win the match.
However, Ivanovic’s victory couldn’t seal the title for her country as her countrywoman Jelena Jankovic was thrashed by Lucie Safarova in the next match and Czech Republic won the Fed Cup.
After losing the match, Kvitova said, “I was not 100% fit. I lacked stamina and that’s why, I couldn’t bring enough power in my strokes.”
On the other hand, Ivanovic who was delighted after winning the match said, “It was an important match and I am happy that I stood up to the expectations of the fans. I had played yesterday as well and that experience certainly helped.”
In the first four games of the first set, both the players held their service. Ivanovic managed to break Kvitova’s service in the fifth game and then, she made her lead more profound with a serve hold in the next game. The scorecard was saying 4-2 in the favour of Ivanovic at the end of the sixth game. The next couple of games went with the serve. Ivanovic got another break opportunity in the ninth game and she latched on that break chance to win the first set by 6-3.
Both the players started the second set quite well. There were no breakthroughs in the first three games. Ivanovic broke Kvitova’s service in the fourth game and held her serve in the next game to get ahead by 4-1. The Serb lost her serve in the ninth game, but, she cashed on another break point that she got in the 12th game and won the match.
Petra Kvitova has been defeated by Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in the second round of the China Open. Kvitova lost the match in the straight sets by 3-6, 2-6. She was defeated by Navarro in just 1 hour and 8 minutes.
This was the first defeat of Kvitova against Navarro. These two players had played against each other three times before and Kvitova had won all those encounters. But, she wasn’t able to register her fourth consecutive win against Navarro.
Kvitova was not even close to her best in the match. She made a lot of unnecessary mistakes in both the sets. Kvitova who is ranked at no. 5 in the official rankings of WTA was expected to win this match without having much difficulty, but, the world no. 46 Navarro stunned Kvitova. The 24 years old Spaniard played some brilliant backhand shots. She also played decently from the baseline and served well as well.
Navarro was off to a blistering start in the match. She managed to sneak a breakthrough in the second game of the first set and won the first three games to make the score 3-0. Both the players held their service in the next two games and the score was 4-1 in the favour of Navarro at the end of the fifth game.
The Spaniard got the second breakthrough in the sixth game and she had to hold her serve in the next game to seal the opening set. But, she missed the opportunity. Her service was broken in the 7th game. However, that lost opportunity didn’t cost Navarro much and she wrapped up the set by holding her service in the ninth game.
Navarro played with aggression in the second set as well. Kvitova’s service was broken twice in the second set and the Czech player lost the second set by 2-6.
Navarro will take on the Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the third round.
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January 15, 2013 3:29 pm | 
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