Petra Kvitova breezes past Ashleigh Barty in the opening round – French Open 2012
World number four, Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic, had a successful start to her Grand Slam campaign in Paris, France, as she overwhelmed the Aussie wildcard entrant, Ashleigh Barty, in the opening round of the French Open on
Tuesday. The fourth seed Czech diva spared three games for her opponent before sealing her convincing victory at 6-1, 6-2, to march into the second round of the star-studded event.
The 22-year-old is currently suffering a terrible run of form as compared to her high standards. She was rated at number two in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings at the start of the season but has fallen a couple
of spot to hold the fourth spot at the present. Fourth seed Kvitova has been struggling with persistent multiple injuries throughout the 2012 WTA season but her Tuesday’s performance faded away all the doubts about her physical fitness. She won her maiden
Grand Slam title last year at Wimbledon and hopes of lifting gold on the clay courts of Roland Garros as well.
The world number four exhibited her typical belligerence in the matchup against Barty, going into the contest with all guns blazing right from the beginning. She kept her error count to a minimum and clinched 16 out of 22 first
serve points en route to victory. Her mighty left-handed forehand worked perfectly for her in the matchup and she fired a total of 57 winners to route the Aussie youngster. Kvitova converted six out of 11 break points, whilst Barty cashed in the only break
opportunity she crafted to finish on the losing side in the end.
Winning the toss, Barty chose to serve first and held her opening serve. Kvitova launched an overall onslaught and nailed three successive break points to rocket away to 6-1, bagging the opening set in an assertive manner.
The Aussie wildcard backfired at Kvitova in the opening game of the following set, only to be broken in the very next game to fall back at 1-1. Barty could only hold one more serve in the remaining contest and Kvitova stung two
back-to-back break points in the sixth and eighth games to seal victory at 6-2.
"After Rome I had some days off, which helped a lot," the fourth seed said. "I've just been practicing before the French Open and I'm feeling very well."
Kvitova is slated to face the unseeded Pole competitor, Urszula Radwanska, in the second round clash of the tournament.
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