Petra Kvitova loses to Sofia Arvidsson in 2nd round – China Open 2011
Swede Sofia Arvidsson recorded her biggest win after picking off Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova the same day she reached her career high ranking of world number 5 in the second round of the China Open 2011 on Monday the 3rd of
October. 27-year-old Swede Arvidsson battled two hours and 28 minutes on outdoor hard courts of the National Tennis Center for a 7-6(6) 4-6 6-3 win over the fifth seeded Kvitova.
Arvidsson was first to serve as she had just won the service toss and she placed herself on the scoreboard at 1-0 by holding her serve in the first game. Then in the second game she capitalized on a breakpoint and reeled off a
2-0 mini lead and as she held serve again in the third game she was standing at 3-0.
In the following two games Kvitova made a smashing return by not just holding her serve in the fourth game but in the fifth game, she broke back and reduced the deficit to 2-3. She completely reduced the deficit at 3-3 by holding
serve in the sixth game and recovered her loss.
From there onwards the score progressed on even terms as first the players broke each other back-to-back to tie the score at 4-4, then at 5-5 as they held serve in the ninth and tenth game. Eventually by the end of the twelfth
game the score was pushed into a tie breaker at 6-6.
The toe-to-toe run carried well into the tie breaker, the Swede rushed to a 2-0 lead, breaking her opponent early in the tiebreaker. However, the durable fifth seeded Kvitova broke back immediately and brought the score to three
points each. From there onwards the score progressed on even terms with neither player giving the other a chance to break. The Swedish surprise pushed into a higher gear and after twelve stiff fought points, as she gyrated off two straight points with an excellent
forehand winner shot, she clinched the tiebreaker, 8-6.
The second set was opened by Kvitova and both the players broke each other back to back in the first two games to place themselves on the score board at 1-1. In the following four games the score tied at 3-3. Kvitova then took
out her agame and applied serve-break technique to take the lead at 5-3.
Although, Arvidsson broke back immediately in the next game and reduced the deficit to only a game by breaking the fifth seeded Czech, she was still unable to win the match because she was unable to hold her service game and endorsed
the set point to Kvitova.
The players had won a set apiece and opening the third round was Kvitova and for the first six games the players played a cat and mouse chase to tie the score at 3-3. In the last three games, Arvidsson took control of the game
and she utilized the break-serve-break method to conquer the decisive set with a 6-3 victory.
Up next for the Swede is eleventh seeded Agnieszka Radwanska or the Chinese wildcard entrant Jie Zheng.
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