Petra Kvitova ducked an upset to beat Carla Suarez Navarro in second round – Australian Open 2012
Czech tennis sensation, Petra Kvitova, outmuscled the Spanish opponent, Carla Suarez Navarro, in the second round clash at the Hisense Arena in Melbourne Park, Australia on Thursday. The world number two was threatened by an upset
defeat at the hands of 58th ranked Spaniard but she recovered with great mastery to settle the final scores at 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, marching into the third round of the Australian Open with conviction.
One of the hot favourites for winning the Grand Slam title in Melbourne, Kvitova was off to a ballistic start in the opening set and absolutely outclassed the Spanish veteran to get the upper hand in the contest. Navarro made a
thumping comeback in the following set and stunned everyone with his majestic stroke play, claiming the second set in an assertive fashion. A close competition was witnessed in the final set but the world number two proved to be the superior competitor and
closed out the matchup in her favour.
Kvitova coughed a total of 48 unforced errors in the matchup and pocketed fewer points than her Spanish opponent but kept winning crucial points in the game to come out as the winner in the end. She registered four out of eight
break points and suffered three serve breaks from Navarro in the matchup. The crafty left-hander made full use of her angling cross-court strokes in the matchup and cracked 31 winners en route to victory.
Apart from the sloppy game play in the second set, Kvitova posed a brilliant display of tennis to amuse the local crowd. Her convincing victory was cheered by every spectator at the Hisense Arena but Navarro also earned a standing
ovation from the Aussie crowd for her magnificent efforts in the match.
Kvitova will take on winner of the match between the 27th seed Maria Kirilenko from Russia and the Canadian, Aleksandra Wozniak, in the third round of the tournament. The second seed Czech is deemed to be the hot favourite
for winning the Grand Slam Down Under and her impactful beginning hints that she is well on her way to claim glory at the Melbourne Park.
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