Petra Kvitova defeats Tsvetana Pironkova in the quarterfinal – Wimbledon Championships 2011
Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic moved into the semi-finals of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships with a testing three-set win over Bulgarian World number 33 Tsvetana Pironkova.
The Czech, seeded eighth, came through 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 to reach the last four, taking 121 minutes of play.
Despite losing the second set, the Czech did not look flummoxed and confounded by the range of winners, errors, aces and more that came at him.
The 21-year-old Kvitova remained calm and hold her game together the better of two, though, as her 16 unforced errors and three double faults in the second set was more than double Pironkova’s comparable statistics.
A couple of break of serve were exchanged in the opening games, with a woeful Pironkova smash opposed by a spectacular running forehand winner down the line. Although Kvitova has her own problems finding any rhythm, she luckily managed to edge the set in an almost comical ninth game.
The Czech No.1 played a brilliant backhand winner off another clumsy Pironkova smash, then watched as three of four break points were saved by a number of winners rocketing past her, in what could be a bizarre thirty minutes of tennis.
A pretty thrilled edge to the match was aided by the full-blooded Pironkova, who played a disastrous forehand and just within the space of a minute Kvitova found herself under pressure for the first time since the early games.
Kvitova had the chance to re-produce her advantage in a dramatic tie-breaker, but Pironkova converted 100 percent break points in spectacular fashion and had the better of a gripping, winning the second set in just 55 minutes.
The crowd at All England Tennis Club was now primed for a classic third set, but as quickly as Pironkova’s fizzing energy had emerged in the second set, so it departed at the start of the third set.
Kvitova’s combination of massive backhands and forehands was seriously troubling the Bulgarian, and the Czech No.1 did well to regain her composure, claiming the decider in just 36 minutes of play.
Nothing about this contest was going to be easy, though, and Kvitova quickly took the lead in the second set, ensuring a nerve- jangling decider before she eventually sewed up the win after two hours.
Up next for the Czech is the fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Championships 2011.
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