2011 Fed Cup: Kirsten Flipkens vs Petra Kvitova – Semi-Final Preview
Kirsten Flipkens of Belgian will face Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic on 16th of April, 2011. The two players will play the first tie in the semi-finals of the Fed Cup when Team Belgium meets Team Czech Republic on Saturday.
Flipkens and Kvitova are facing each other for the second time with Flipkens having trashed the Czech in their last duel in straight sets at Hobart last year. She clobbered three double faults to Kvitova’s six and had a higher
first serve share. The Belgian also earned an impressive 70 percent win on it and saved 50 percent of breakpoints she faced. Flipkens converted five out of eight breakpoint opportunities to her advantage to eventually clinch the match with a 6-3, 7-6(4) score
line.
The 25-year-old Flipkens hasn’t had much progress this season and lost in early rounds at all the tournaments she entered except for reaching the finals at Monzon ITF. The last match she played was at Marbella where she was ousted
from the first round by German Kristina Barrois.
In her last match against Barrois, the Belgian committed only two double faults and had a convincing first serve share of 57 percent. She registered an acceptable 53 percent win on it and saved 40 percent of the breakpoints. Flipkens
also converted three out of six breakpoint opportunities to her advantage.
The 21-year-old Czech on the other side of net is in great form as she won two titles earlier this season. She downed German Andrea Petkovic in the final at Brisbane and trashed top seeded Belgian Kim Clijsters in the final at
Paris. She also made a quarter-final berth at Australian Open but lost to 17th seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round at Miami before entering the Fed Cup semis.
In her last match, she committed four double faults and many unforced errors against Pavlyuchenkova. However the Czech produced a higher first serve share of 64 percent and earned an assuring 57 percent win on it. She saved only
38 percent of breakpoints she conceded and converted four out of seven breakpoint opportunities to her advantage.
Both players lost their last match before entering Fed Cup but Kvitova fought back well in her last match and managed to win a set. After looking at their current forms, Kvitova is expected to overwhelm her 88th ranked
below Czech rival in straight sets and lead her country to the final. However, she needs to commit less double faults and convert more breakpoint opportunities to her advantage to succeed.
The Belgian team includes 23rd ranked Yanina Wickmayer, 434th ranked An-Sophie Mestach, 604th ranked Alison Van Uytvanck and 106th ranked Flipkens. Czech Republic’s team on the other
hand includes 18th ranked Petra Kvitova, 42nd ranked Iveta Benesova, 49th ranked Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and 65thranked Lucie Hradecka. By looking at the team members, Czech players are higher ranked and in much
better shape.
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