Petra Kvitova to face Kateryna Bondarenko in the Olympics opener – Tennis News
World number six, Petra Kvitova, is ready to head her way into the All England Lawn Tennis Club for her first encounter against the 94th ranked Ukrainian, Kateryna Bondarenko.
It seems to be a straight forward draw on paper for the hard-hitting Czech starlet but it is not as simple as it looks like. The 25-year-old Ukrainian has won two out of three head-to-head encounters and rests a strong chance of
pulling up an upset against the 22-year-old Czech.
So, there is a chance of the Czech’s hope of attaining a gold medal being mashed at the opening round on the eve of Saturday.
However, all those battles between the two players were fought for more than two years ago. So considering the improvement in the game style of Kvitova, one can easily say that she will be able to level the head-to-head scores
with ease but lightning can strike thrice at the same place as well and Bondarenko can upset the sixth seed Czech on her day.
Former Wimbledon Champion, Kvitova, is returning to the grass courts of London to contest for the third time in two years. Last year when she entered the All England Lawn Tennis Club, she left it with her maiden Grand Slam title.
She couldn’t repeat the performance this time around but would not mind adding a gold medal to her title tally at the same location where she opened up her Major titles account. It will be interesting to witness the left-handed
aggressive contestant in the upcoming London Games.
Kvitova might not be as experienced as the likes of the Russian superstar, Maria Sharapova, and the American number one, Serena Williams, but she possesses those slick and stylish traits that can dismantle the big names and bring
them down on their knees.
Bondarenko will have to work extremely hard to overpower the in-form Czech. However, the 25-year-old Ukrainian can’t be written off at any stage of the contest. Few of her recent victims include the likes of the French Open finalist,
Sara Errani, who is ranked number nine in the world.
So, it is expected to be a tight encounter but Kvitova is expected to edge it in straight sets.
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