Petra Kvitova dumps Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
Reigning world number four, Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic, finally displayed some glimpses of her vintage form in the opening round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, as she defeated the 26th raked Russian youngster,
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, on Tuesday. The fourth seed Czech contender battled for just over two hours to settle the two-setter at 7-5, 6-4, in her favour, reaching the round of 16 of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier 5 event.
The local crowd at the outdoor clay courts of Rome, Italy, were in to see the world number four to deliver her best and she succeeded fair bit to come up to the expectations of her fans. She was not exactly at her best but still
far better than the 20-year-old Russian throughout the contest. The Czech number one was defeated by Pavlyuchenkova at the Miami Masters last year and it was the payback time for her on Tuesday. Kvitova cruised through both sets and overcame the limited resistance
offered by the Russian youngster to get into a 3-2 lead in the all-time head-to-head series against her.
Kvitova’s 65 per cent precise serve included eight doubles faults but she secured 33 out of 55 first serve points to compensate for it. She had nine break opportunities in the match and five conversions proved sufficient for driving
Pavlyuchenkova out of the tournaments with authority. The Russian could barely register three break points, frittering away 12 priceless chances to finish on the losing side in the end.
"I have to say I was nervous before the match," Kvitova said. "I saw how she was playing in her last match, and also I lost the last time I played her, which wasn't a nice memory going into this one. It was tough for me at the
beginning but I'm happy I won and I have things to improve on for the next match."
It was a much needed victory for Kvitova, who has slipped to the fourth spot in the WTA rankings with her deteriorating form in the past few months. She is now 16-6 in the running season and aiming to clinch her first championship
title of the year in Rome.
"I played very well in Stuttgart," Kvitova commented. "It was strange conditions in Madrid. I wasn't able to play my game against Hradecka, because all the points were only about one shot and she did better that day. But so far
here I'm feeling good and I'm looking forward to playing more matches now."
The fourth seed Czech will take on the winner of the second round clash between Sorana Cirstea and Sofia Arvidsson, in the third round of the Rome Masters.
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