Petra Kvitova outplays Ana Ivanovic to reach the quarter-finals – Dubai Tennis Championships 2013
Czech number one, Petra Kvitova, displayed her class once again by defeating the former world number one, Ana Ivanovic, in the second round brawl of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday. The sixth seed registered her victory in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6(1), to book a spot in the quarter-final of the WTA tournament being held in Dubai.
It was an evenly matched contest between two of the finest athletes in the professional circuit. Ivanovic has been struggling to make her way back in the top rankings but hasn’t been successful to a great degree. The 13th ranked Serbian posted a solid resistance against the might of Kvitova and stretched both sets to their limit but couldn’t hold on her nerves in intense pressure situations of the contest. She was leading the head-to-head series by 4-1 against the Czech contender prior to the match and was expected to improve her record further. However, some crafty game ply from Kvitova left her deserted in the end.
"I started the match pretty well - I started without mistakes and everything, and I thought, 'It can't be like this all match," Kvitova said. "Then Ana started to play quite aggressively from there. She was serving quite well, and my serve wasn't as good as it was before, so I was having some trouble. She came back in the match, and it was quite tough for my nerves too, but I'm glad I did it in the end."
"I thought it was a high quality matc," Ivanovic told the reporters after the match. "I'm disappointed I didn't use some opportunities I had towards the end of both sets, but it was really close, which is good."
Despite of 57 per cent precision and six double faults, Kvitova reeled off 32 out of 48 points on her first serve. She broke the Serbian serve five out of 11 times en route to victory, whilst Ivanovic could convert merely four of her 16 priceless opportunities to finish on the losing side in the end.
Kvitova will take on the world number four, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the quarter-final round later this week. Radwanska was successful against the Kazakh wildcard entrant, Yulia Putintseva, in the second round.
Tags: