Wimbledon 2011: Petra Kvitova Beats Victoria Azarenka for First Slam Final

She made her debut as a contender on the tour at last year’s Wimbledon, making it to the semifinals and earning WTA’s “Newcomer of the Year.” 

This year, Petra Kvitova took it a step further by entering her first major final after defeating the top-seed left in the draw, Victoria Azarenka (6-1, 3-6, 6-2).

The eighth-seed dominated on the court with 40 winners (about 13 in each set) and nine aces to the fourth-seed’s paltry nine winners and one ace.

“I'm very happy my serve was good in the third set,” Kvitova told the Associated Press, as reported by IBNLive. “Grass is my favorite surface!”

Kvitova started the match a little weary on her first serve, but that shot soon became her strength. She served a majority of her aces (six of nine) in the first set.

She broke early at 3-1 with an angled forehand winner, emphasized by the fact that she is a unique left-handed player. Azarenka began to play much more defensively with Kvitova’s deep shots and lost her serve again at 5-1. The Czech won the first set with two aces, forcing the Belorussian to hit a long volley.

Azarenka changed the energy in the second set by breaking at 2-0 as Kvitova began to hit many unforced errors. Each point and game were followed by many chances for the Czech to break with aggressive plays, but Azarenka was able to hold for the set and left Kvitova to hit long.

In the third set, Kvitova benefited from coming to the net more often, converting 75 percent of net approaches to wins. She hit fewer errors and broke at 2-0. After Azarenka double-faulted at match-point, Kvitova won the match and became the first Czech player to be in the Finals here since Jana Novotna won in 1998.

Both of the semifinalists are 21 years old and made some firsts at the tournament. 

Kvitova is the first lefty since Martina Navratilova in 1994 to make it to the Wimbledon Finals.

This was Azarenka’s first slam semifinal and she is the first Belorussian to make it this far in major-singles play since Natalia Zvereva made it to the French Open Finals in 1988 and lost to Steffi Graf. 

First-time finalist Kvitova will meet the winner of the Maria Sharapova versus Sabine Lisicki semifinal.

Tennis Now