The sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, broke the 23rd-seeded Lucie Safarova’s first serve, survived a first-set tiebreaker and moved into Saturday’s final.
The sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, broke the 23rd-seeded Lucie Safarova’s first serve, survived a first-set tie breaker and moved into Saturday’s final with a 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory where she will meet 20-year old Eugenie Bouchard who had nervy first set but carried on the momentum in the second set and beating the French Open finalist and world no. 3 Simona Halep, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Even the two might not possess the oomph and the razzmatazz of the Sharapova’s and the Serena’s; but Kvitova and Bouchard might just the take the level of tennis to a whole new level.
When the two ladies walk out on the Centre Court on Saturday afternoon, expect no such camaraderie between the women finalists.
In each year since 2011, three different women have won the first three Grand Slam events:
the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon.
That’s how unpredictable women’s tennis has been.
The left-handed Kvitova won the final three years ago, beating Maria Sharapova in straight sets. Her size and power make her a formidable opponent for anyone on the quick grass, and she has made persistent trips to the quarterfinals or beyond since 2010. She has now won 25 of her past 28 matches at the tournament.
Also, Kvitova has a 1-0 advantage over Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard when they played a hard-court match in 2013. The former won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
For Bouchard, she is the only woman to reach the semi-finals in the year’s first three majors. Not to forget, her countryman Milos Raonic has a semi-final up his sleeve at the Wimbledon against iconic Roger Federer. But Bouchard has captured the wealth of attention at Wimbledon, much to the country tied up with the British Commonwealth, with a name borrowed by her parents from British royalty. Bouchard challenges even the hardest servers and hitters, oppressing their attacks with offensive strokes. Eugiene treats the court as a contested ground, pushing forward and hoping to push her opponent back.
But even though the odds favour the Czech international Petra Kvitova to win the title (yet again), the freshness and sparkle that Eugenie Bouchard brings to the game, can unsettle the former!
