Petra Kvitova dumps Akgul Amanmuradova to begin her title defence – Wimbledon Championships 2012
World number four, Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic, had a successful start to her Grand Slam title defence campaign, disposing of the unseeded Uzbek contender, Akgul Amanmuradova, in the opening round of the Wimbledon Championships
on Tuesday. The 22-year-old Czech tennis ace wrapped up her victory in twin sets, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the second round of the mega event in London, England.
Being the defending champion at Wimbledon, Kvitova was expected to make a far better and aggressive start to the opening round contest. She took off in a sloppy fashion as was soon found struggling against the inferior-ranked opponent
at 1-4 in the first set. The tall left-hander shifted her gears from there onwards and launched an all-round onslaught upon Amanmuradova to transfer the pressure on her. She broke her serve twice in a row to race past her to 6-4, bagging the opener convincingly.
Kvitova played much solidly in the following set and never let her opponent surpass her. She kept on winning crucial points in the match and earned her first match point at 5-3 but her forehand stroke landed behind the baseline,
frittering away the all-important point for her. A sudden outburst of rain hampered the match at that moment and the two players resumed the contest after a short break. Kvitova concluded victory in the next game, finishing the matchup at 6-4 to clear the
opening round of the Grand Slam tournament.
"I was nervous," delighted Kvitova said in her post match reviews. "It was my first time being defending champion of a Grand Slam. Of course I would like to make everyone happy, but it wasn't that easy, but I'm happy I stayed calm
and didn't panic in important moments. It was a huge honour to play on Centre Court today."
The Czech has played just her second match of the grass-court season on Tuesday and hopes for yet another sublime run at Wimbledon. She suffered a first-round exit at the AEGON International tournament last week but her victory
over Amanmuradova hints her getting back in form. She will play against Britain’s Elena Baltacha in the second round.
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