TENNIS US OPEN – Reigning Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova is showing great form in the late summer on a 5-match hardcourt winning streak. She easily dispatched Kristina Mladenovic in 54 minutes 6-1 6-0 to go through to the 2nd round. From New York, Cordell Hackshaw
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Petra Kvitova (3) has not had much success on the North American hardcourt circuit, something she herself rightly admits to, “[I am] always struggling after Wimbledon when I playing the few hard court tournaments before the US Open.” Furthermore, of all the slams, the US Open is the only one that she has not progressed past the Round of 16. However, fresh off a 2nd major title at Wimbledon and the New Haven title last weekend, the Czech has gained momentum and is looking like a serious contender for the singles title here in Flushing Meadows. Kvitova first had to get past France’s Kristina Mladenovic who beat her last year at Paris Indoors. Maybe it was a revenge match for Kvitova because she was simply lethal off the ground and the serve. Mladenovic was left scrambling for points in the match as Kvitova dominated from start to finish for a 6-1 6-0 victory in under an hour.
It was very apparent from the get-go that Kvitova was in supreme form. She held serve with ease and broke Mladenovic for a 3-0 lead. Mladenovic was able to hold for 1-3 but Kvitova would remain focus as she totally picked apart the Frenchwoman’s game. In less than half an hour, Kvitova had the 1st set 6-1. The 2nd set was no different, Kvitova continued to show her superior level of play. She broke Mladenovic to open the set and never let up. That early break proved to be too much for the Frenchwoman as she was unable to hold serve for the rest of the match. She closed out the set and the match 6-1 6-0.
The conditions were very windy on court but Kvitova was steady as a rock. Kvitova was just too good off the ground and with her serve. Kvitova dropped only 8 points on serve for the entire match. She won 85% of her 1st serve points and 67% on her 2nd serve. Mladenovic was only winning 40% on 1st serve and even less on 2nd serve, 39%. After the match, Kvitova stated, “I’m very happy. First round is always nerves … I’m just glad how I played … [I]t’s great I have a couple of matches from New Haven that I felt more confident on the court than maybe I will feel if I’m not playing New Haven.” Kvitova will next play fellow Czech Petra Cetkovska who took out another compatriot Klara Koukalova in 3 sets, 6-1 2-6 6-3.
