Is there a curse on first-time Grand Slam champions? - Part Two: Petra Kvitova
Talking of the new Grand Slam champions falling down shortly after their title win, 21-year-old Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic is not to be forgotten. Currently rated at the fourth spot in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association)
World Rankings, Kvitova is in her prime form this season and is holding her career best ranking till date.
Left-handed Czech competitor is considered to be among the strongest opponents in a game of tennis and his pin-point power hitting is feared by all in the business. Kvitova has already bagged five WTA and seven ITF (International
Tennis Federation) championship titles in her six-year professional career.
Kvitova rose to the top of the tennis world in this year’s summer, when she beat all the odds to outplay the former world number one, Maria Sharapova of Russia, in the final of the Wimbledon Championships, claiming her first ever
Grand Slam title. Kvitova defeated the former champion in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, to surprise everyone present at the Flushing Meadows and became the first Major winner to be born in 1990’s.
The Czech took off 2011 as the world number 34 and it took her 10 months to reach the number four spot among women. Kvitova is running a 48-13 winning record in the current year, which includes four WTA championship titles to her
name.
The Czech began her running WTA season with a title victory at Brisbane, defeating Andrea Petkovic in the final. Taking part in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, Kvitova made it up to the quarter-final stage of the Australian
Open before she finally got defeated at the hands of Vera Zvonareva of Russia to break in the Top-20 for the first time.
After registering championship victories in Paris and Madrid, Kvitova broke in the Top-10 in WTA rankings. She lost to the eventual champion, Li Na of China, in the round of 16 at the Roland Garros and also lost the final in Eastbourne
before stepping on the grassy Flushing Meadows to play the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Wimbledon Championships.
Kvitova was ranked at number eight when she took off her Wimbledon Championship campaign. The Czech competitor outplayed a number of top class opponents, including Roberta Vinci, Yanina Wickmayer, Tsvetana Pironkova and Victoria
Azarenka to reach her first ever Grand Slam final to compete against Sharapova. Kvitova was tipped as the underdog while stepping up with the former Wimbledon champion, Sharapova, but the Czech stunned everyone by defeating the Russian in straight sets to
bag her first Major title in the most assertive fashion. Her ranking improved to number seven after her title victory.
Kvitova’s Grand Slam victory brought a drastic slump in her game and she faced early round losses at the WTA Premier Series events in Toronto and Cincinnati immediately afterwards. She took part in the US Open as the hot favourite
but gave an absolute shocker to her fans when she got defeated in the very first round at the hands of Alexandra Dulgheru.
Kvitova made it to her first semi-final after the Wimbledon victory last month in Tokyo, Japan. She defeated Sharapova for a second straight time but dropped to the other Russian, Zvonareva, in the semi-final of the tournament.
She then went on to take part in the China Open, in Beijing, China and was again outplayed in her opening match against Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden to end up in the second round.
Kvitova’s loss in Beijing still took the Czech to her highest ever WTA ranking of number four. Her potential is admired by all, but her inconsistent performances won’t let her fulfil her dream to become the world number one.
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