Petra Kvitova overwhelms Ana Ivanovic to reach the quarter-final draw – Australian Open 2012
In the fourth round encounter of the Australian Open on Monday, world number two, Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic, devastated the former world number one, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. The much anticipated contest lasted for just 85 minutes, with the second seed Czech winning in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6(2), to book a spot in the quarter-final round of the Grand Slam Down Under for the first time.
Kvitova stepped on the hard courts of Rod Laver Arena at the Melbourne Park, Australia, as the hot favourite but it was expected that she would face some serious resistance from the former top ranked Serb. Ivanovic was completely blown away in the opening set but she displayed a glimpse of her class in the following set before eventually submitting. She dragged the second set into a tie-breaker round but it was the in-form Czech who claimed the decider to register a thumping victory in the end.
With an ordinary first serve precision of just 59 per cent, Kvitova secured 26 out of 40 points en route to victory. She took hold of the momentum in the opening set, drawing the first blood in the third game to lead 2-1. Another cracking break point conversion in the seventh game left the second seed serving for the set and she comprehensively wrapped up the proceedings at 6-2.
A much competitive second set was witnessed, with a trade of serve breaks in the fifth and 10th game to take the scores to 6-6. Ivanovic crumbled under the pressure of defeat and pocketed merely two points in the tie-breaker round before she accepted defeat at 6-7(2).
Kvitova finally broke the three-match losing streak against the Serb, defeating her for the first time in her professional career. She now trails 1-3 against the 22nd ranked Ivanovic in singles encounters and marches on to the round of eight at the Grand Slam of Asia-Pacific. Kvitova will take on the unseeded Italian, Sara Errani, in the quarter-final battle. Errani halted the winning momentum of Jie Zheng in the fourth round, outplaying her in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, to book a date with the world number two in the quarter-finals.
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