Petra Kvitova dodges the scare against Francesca Schiavone to reach the quarters – Wimbledon 2012
Czech fans at the All England Tennis Club had their hearts in their mouth for a while by witnessing the defending champion, Petra Kvitova, struggling against the 32-year-old Italian veteran, Francesca Schiavone, on Monday. However,
the fourth seed Czech lived up to the expectations of her fans and turned the tables on the world number 26, Schiavone, to win the fourth round brawl at the Wimbledon Championships. Kvitova settled the final score line at 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, in her favour to earn
a place in the quarter-final round of the Grand Slam event in London.
It was a gruelling battle in the opening two sets of the match, with the Italian dominating for most of the time. Albeit her all-round brilliant performance in the initial stages of the contest, Schiavone stumbled badly in the
decisive set, letting an opening for the defending champion, and Kvitova capitalised on it to come out as the deserving winner. The world number four was one set and a break down in the contest but her courageous comeback dragged the scores at 5-5. She went
on for a seven game killing spree from there onwards to get a commanding position in the final set and eventually closed out victory with a breadstick.
"From the beginning of the match I didn't have nice feelings. It wasn't fun for me in that moment. That's why I didn't play so well," Kvitova said after ensuring a berth in the round of eight. "When I made the break early in the
second set after one hour, or however long we were playing, it was better for me. I knew I could play with her today and break her more. Tomorrow is a different day, so I hope it will be better tomorrow."
Kvitova belted four aces and won 50 out of 64 first serve points in the contest to get the better of the Italian veteran. She broke Schiavone 4 out of 16 times en route to victory, whilst her 24th seed rival could strike
just two out of nine break points in the entire match to finish on the losing side in the end.
The world number four will face the toughest challenge in her Wimbledon Championship title defence on Tuesday afternoon when she will go one-on-one against the American powerhouse, Serena Williams, in the quarter-final battle.
Williams had a tough fourth round contest against the Golden Egg holder, Yaroslava Shvedova, on Monday.
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