Petra Kvitova sidelines Ksenia Pervak to reach the quarters – Rogers Cup 2012
World number six, Petra Kvitova, survived the onslaught of the 72nd ranked Kazakh star, Ksenia Pervak, in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada. She won the match in three sets 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-0 after
battling for two hours and 21 minutes.
The opening set witnessed a tight battle for the first six games. Both players held their serves with Pervak managing to survive scares on two out of three occurrences; saving breakpoints to keep in line with her rival.
Against the run of play, Pervak broke serve and took a lead in the seventh game. She held her serve with little pressure in the following game that posted a lead of 5-3 in her favour. Both players held their serves in the following
two games and the opening set ended in favour of the 21-year-old Kazakh.
A swap of breakpoints at the start of the second set hinted at another close battle. Both players won four points upfront on their opponent’s serve which was a bit of a surprise to everyone present at the arena.
However, the scenario suddenly shifted to the normal game style and the following eight games witnessed consecutive serve holds that pushed the scores to 5-5. An exchange of breakthroughs enforced a tie-breaker round into play.
Kvitova being the experience personnel in that department triumphed in the tie-breaker with ease; allowing no point to her rival. Stage was set for a final battle but the stamina of the Kazakh was not so good.
The final set left the spectators dejected who were waiting for an epic battle. It was all one-sided right from the start with the Czech starlet ruling the show; bagging three breakpoints in a row and not allowing her opponent
to win anything on her serves.
It was pure class in the third set from the 22-year-old Czech that was missing from her game style in the recent times. It was the second head-to-head victory for the sixth ranked Czech who has always been tested by the 21-year-old
Kazakh. It was a three-setter when they met last time as well.
The winner of the clash between Marion Bartoli and Shuai Peng will face Kvitova in quarters.
Tags: