Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova sent 18th seed Caroline Garcia packing at this year’s US Open with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over the Frenchwoman in the first match on a sunny Arthur Ashe Stadium. The 13th seed will face reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza or 31st seed Magdalena Rybarikova in the fourth round on Sunday.
The Czech number two won the coin toss and elected to receive. It proved to be the right decision for Kvitova as she immediately broke Garcia’s serve. Garcia came into this contest on as seven-match winning streak against left-handers, and she won the last two encounters against Kvitova.
Kvitova was playing tennis at a high-level which the 23-year-old was unable to cope with. She quickly consolidated the break to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the early exchanges. Furthermore, this opening set was moving extremely fast for Garcia, who broke through and reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open this year.
The 13th seeded Czech continued to apply pressure, and she gained the double break as she returned the ball well, hitting the ball very hard, and took a 3-0 lead.
This contest between the two seeded players was built up to be a hard-hitting encounter as both players possess the weapons to blow their opponents of the court. Moreover, the 18th seed was not at the races, and Kvitova found her range early on.
Garcia caused her own problems on her serve as she continued to commit unforced errors on the backhand and forehand side. It allowed, the two-time Wimbledon champion to take a commanding 5-0 lead, and serve for the opening set in their third round clash inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In just 26 minutes, Kvitova claimed the opening set producing two back-to-back aces, in arguably her best Grand Slam performance since her return from a knife injury last December.
Kvitova books her place in the fourth round for the fifth time
The 18th seed finally got onto the scoreboard as she clinched the opening game of the second set with an ace out wide. Garcia had a chance to gain her first break points of the match as she got to 15-30 on the Czech’s serve but she was unable to make further in-roads as Kvitova restored parity to get the second set on level terms by sending down a second service ace out wide to level the second set at 1-1.
The quality of the second set finally improved as Garcia started to serve a lot better, and hung in with the dual Wimbledon champion in longer rallies, and her forehand started to fire on all cylinders.
However, the 13th seed from the Czech Republic, a former quarterfinalist in New York back in 2015 won a game to love to level the second set at 3-3. Kvitova was looking to gain her first break of the second set as she quickly raced out to a 0-40 lead on Garcia’s serve.
Nonetheless, it was a gutsy effort from the 23-year-old Frenchwoman as she played fearless tennis on break points. She wiped out the third break point with an ace out wide. Kvitova gained two more break point chances, and on the fifth one, she broke Garcia’s serve with a good return of serve, forcing an unforced error in the net from Garcia.
Kvitova had no problems on her serve as she consolidated her break easily taking a 5-3 lead. The 18th seed had the task of serving to stay in the match and she was doing a good job of holding her side of the bargain. She raced out to a 40-15 lead by producing some crushing forehand winners down the line.
Nevertheless, Garcia faced two match points, which she saved and she put the pressure right back on Kvitova’s shoulders with a running forehand winner down the line but trailed 5-4. There was no drama for the two-time Wimbledon champion as she booked her place in the fourth round in New York for the third year in succession.
The Czech spoke to Brad Gilbert after her emphatic straight sets victory over the dangerous Frenchwoman. “My serve definitely and my movement around the court, I know Caro can be tricky, I lost to her the last time we played in the Fed Cup. I know how she can play aggressively, I was trying to stay low and run.”
Kvitova added how it felt to play on the Arthur Ashe Stadium again. “It means a lot, I really appreciate it, playing at the US Open to be in the fourth round, after everything I’ve been through, it’s a happy moment for me.”
Finally, Gilbert told Kvitova, who she would be playing on Sunday, and she doesn’t mind who she plays. “I don’t care who I’m going to play actually, both are great players, I practiced with Magdalena Rybarikova before the tournament, I know her style, I know Garbine’s style as well, it’s going to be a difficult match anyway, so I don’t really care.”
