Petra Kvitova vs Svetlana Kuznetsova – Fed Cup WG Final preview: Russia vs Czech Republic
Local crowd at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia, anxiously wait to see their home team in action against the Czech squad in the final of the Fed Cup World Group on 5th and 6th of November.
The competition will be played on the indoor hard courts, with two of the strongest teams battling it out for glory this weekend. Russia and Czech Republic have a 2-2 record in prior encounters at the Fed Cup and are facing each
other first time in ten years. Team Czech outplayed the Russian squad in the final of Fed Cup World Group way back in 1988 and the two sides have reach the final of the mega event after 23 years.
The Czechs are led by the belligerent world number two, Petra Kvitova, who will start off the proceedings from her side on Saturday, taking on Maria Kirilenko in the opening round rubber. Kvitova will play her second singles rubber
against the former world number two, Svetlana Kuznetsova, on Sunday.
It is too early to predict the true significance of the third singles rubber of the competition but certainly a win for any of the contestants will greatly contribute towards her side’s victory. Kvitova is riding her for of the
life time, clinching the world number two spot for the first time. The Czech has been in a blistering from throughout the season, winning 58 of the 71singles matches she played and bagging seven WTA championship titles to become the most successful women’s
tennis player of the current year.
Kvitova shocked the whole tennis world this season when she outclassed the former world number one, Maria Sharapova of Russia, in the final of the Wimbledon Championships to claim her first ever Grand Slam title. Her belligerent
game play and sublime form makes her the hot favourite for winning both of her singles rubbers in the Fed Cup final.
On the other hand, the reigning world number 19, Kuznetsova, has been toiling extremely hard to catch up with her vintage form all the season. The Russian is having a 33-20 winning record this year, with no championship victories.
26-year-old Kuznetsova is full of experience and has always been the trump card for Team Russia in Fed Cup competitions. A lot is expected from the Russian veteran this time round as well and with the local crowd enchanting on her back, Kuznetsova will be
on to post a surprise victory over the world number two on Sunday.
Kuznetsova has never faced Kvitova before and it will be exciting to see how these two contestants will adopt to each other’s strategy. Left-handed Kvitova possess the natural angle in her stroke execution, something which has
troubled a number of top class contestants this season and she will be testing the Russian opponent with some fiery forehands.
The world number two is expected to assist her side to glory by winning her two singles rubbers and there are no doubts that she can do it comprehensively. A straight sets victory for Kvitova is predicted in the Sunday’s contest
against Kuznetsova.
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