KVITOVA BLOG. THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

PETRA KVITOVA CONQUERS WIMBLEDON 2014.

PETRA KVITOVA CONQUERS WIMBLEDON 2014.

EUGENIE BOUCHARD BLOG. THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

The Genie Juggernaut may have suffered a serious reality check on tennis’s grandest stage on Saturday, but the wheels are still in motion. Surging to a career-high of No.7 in the world following her run to the Wimbledon final, Eugenie Bouchard is now the highest-ranked Canadian women’s player in history. And with few points to defend heading to this year’s US Open, the 20-year-old can make greater leaps still. Thereafter the real test begins. Bouchard goes from being the underdog with nothing to lose to a woman bearing huge expectations. 

 A fourth straight semi-final finish or better at the slams is realistically on the cards at Flushing Meadows and after reaching her maiden Grand Slam final in just her sixth major appearance, the odds are that she is closing in on that breakthrough. The blonde ponytail and cover-girl good looks, combined with a fearless determination and relentless ball-striking, make the Quebecer a marketer’s dream. On the eve of The Championships, she inked a three-year endorsement deal with Coca-Cola Canada. 
Her marketability will only soar after this past fortnight. And so flows “the next Sharapova” moniker. Best keep the hype in check though. Despite her deep runs at each of this year’s slams, Bouchard realises she still has a way to go before she is knocking off the biggest names in the game. The most notable players she has defeated in Grand Slam play are Ana Ivanovic and Angelique Kerber, and while she pushed eventual champion Maria Sharapova to three sets in Paris, she was soundly walloped by Li Na in Melbourne and now Kvitova at Wimbledon.

SARA ERRANI AND ROBERTA VINCI CONQUERS WIMBLEDON DOUBLES TITTLE 2014

Having claimed every other Grand Slam doubles together, it was only natural that Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci would wish to complete their Grand Slam collection at Wimbledon. 

They did so convincingly with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in the final today, becoming only the fifth pair in history to win every Major title. Not only that, but Errani and Vinci are the first Italians to win a senior title at the All England Club in 128 editions of the tournament. “Unbelievable. I mean, no words to tell you what it is for us,” Errani said of the pair’s Grand Slam sweep. 

“We were thinking about that all the day, all the morning. (It) is very special.” Experience was arguably the difference in the 56-minute win. The Italians, who are close friends, had already won 19 tour titles as a pair and were playing their 258th match together; Babos and Mladenovic, by contrast, were contesting only their third event as a team and 13th match, having reached the final of Paris earlier this year and fallen in the first round in Birmingham. The first blows were struck early by the second seeds, Errani and Vinci racing to a 3-0 lead when neither Babos nor Mladenovic could hold their opening service games. They’d surrender one of those breaks on Errani’s serve, but as Vinci imposed at the net and her partner backed up from the baseline, they soon claimed that first set in 27 minutes. Also friends since juniors and born just four days apart in May 1993, the Hungarian and French pairing had reason to be confident against their more-experienced opponents, having defeated top-seeded defending champions and recent French Open champions Su-Wei Hsieh and Shuai Peng 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 in the third round.

PETRA KVITOVA CONQUERS WIMBLEDON SINGLE TITTLE 2014

Petra Kvitova, the Czech left-hander who stands six feet tall, towered over the ladies’ singles final with an awesomely impressive display of power tennis that crushed Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 in just 55 minutes. 

 Kvitova, who did a similar demolition job on Maria Sharapova to win Wimbledon for the first time three years ago, put behind her what has often been a patchy career since that great day in 2011 to utterly outclass Bouchard and collect a reward of £1,760,000 and the Venus Rosewater Dish, symbol of the greatest prize in the women’s game. 

 The coronation of Canada’s princess of the courts will have to wait until another, happier occasion. Bouchard, who is only 20, had sailed through to the final without dropping a set but this was a day on which Kvitova had all the answers, not that Bouchard was posing many questions. If, in future years, Kvitova suffers any down moments in life she can always sit down and watch a tape of this match to cheer herself up. It was magical stuff. 

 It was also the quickest ladies’ final at Wimbledon for 31 years, since Martina Navratilova, also a Czech and an even more famous left-hander, routed Andrea Jaeger in the 1983 final, also for the loss of just three games. Navratilova, who was among the nine former Wimbledon ladies’ champions in the Royal Box, was in tears of happiness for her compatriot at the end. Morning rain had caused the Centre Court roof to be closed as a precaution but better conditions – blue skies and fluffy clouds rather than grey,low ones – meant that it was opened again in good time for the finalists to enter bearing their bouquets, with Kvitova raising that formidable left arm in acknowledgement of the welcoming applause. 

 Soon that left arm was employed to more purpose, delivering an ace on her first serve and maintaining such a high level, with just three double-faults, that her serving average was 106 miles an hour. Kvitova broke in just the third game with a crunching cross-court forehand that clipped the side line. It was soon sadly apparent that Bouchard was being outclassed and outgunned but the huge cheers that greeted her every winning point indicated where the Centre Court’s sympathies lay. Perhaps it was only natural after the torrent of publicity over her progress towards the final and such facts as being named by her mother Julie (“a closet royalist” according to Eugenie) after the daughter of the Duke of York. 
Princess Eugenie was, in fact, watching from the Royal Box, possibly sympathising with the plight of her namesake, who spent so much time on the back foot and lunging after Kvitova winners that she rarely enjoyed the opportunity to do what she likes best – to step in and wallop winners.

ORDER OF PLAY, 5 JULY 2014. THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

EUGENIE BOUCHARD IN PRESS CONFERENCE. THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

Q. How much of a relief is it to get past the semis this time and make it into a Grand Slam final? 
 EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I wouldn't use the word 'relief,' but I'm happy to get to my first Grand Slam final. It's very exciting. It's what I've worked so long for, you know. I'm just proud of myself for today's effort. 

 Q. You seemed so subdued in victory. What are the emotions that you experienced on the court when you realized you were in the Wimbledon final? 
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I felt like it should have happened a game earlier, so I already had that emotion in my head already. But, you know, it's not like a surprise to me. I expect good results like this. So for me, I was like, Okay, good. It's a step in the right direction. I get to play in the final. You know, I still have another match, so it's not a full celebration yet. 

 Q. What does this mean to you to be the first Canadian to reach a Grand Slam final? 
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I get to make Canadian history again. It's always exciting and special when I can make history. My job is not done. I want to go another step further. So I'm going to stay focused and enjoy it after. 

 Q. What went on with the first match point? You seemed to have a long discussion with the umpire. EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, when Simona tossed I heard someone scream in the crowd. It had happened a few times already. This time I didn't feel prepared to return. So I put my hand up. The umpire told me he heard it, as well, but he just didn't see my hand go up. But, you know, it only went up after someone screamed, which was pretty much when she was going to serve. I don't know, somewhat of an unfortunate incident. I didn't feel ready to return and I put my hand up. Yeah, I felt like we should have replayed the point, but he said, no, it was her point. I took it as a challenge and tried to keep going.

PETRA KVITYOVA ADVANCES TO FINAL OF THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

Petra Kvitova has advanced to the Wimbledon final 
 KVITOVA_SAFAROVA 7-6(6), 6-1 

 The first all-Czech semi-final in Grand Slam history was a tightly contested battle in a 51-minute first set, despite Kvitova securing the first break of serve in the opening game. Showing remarkable composure in her first Grand Slam semi, Safarova secured her own break of serve three games later, with the first set was eventually decided in a tie-break. Having secured that tie-break with a powerful forehand winner, a more relaxed Kvitova hit harder and more accurately in the second set. With her experience showing, the 2011 champion secured breaks of serve in the second and sixth games to complete her emphatic victory in an hour and 20 minutes.

EUGENIE BOUCHARD INTO FINAL OF THE THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

Another display of tennis which was as aggressive as it was impressive by the No.13 seed saw off Romania’s Simona Halep, the No.3 seed and runner-up at the French Open, 7-6(5), 6-2, in one hour 34 minutes. 

 So Bouchard, 20, has now gone six matches at the 2014 Championships without dropping a set, while Halep was always fighting an uphill battle after twisting her left ankle after just 12 minutes and needing prolonged treatment. However, she showed her fighting spirit by resisting five match points before a Bouchard service winner ensured it would be Canada’s day.

ORDER OF PLAY, 3 JULY 2014, THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

SIMONA HALEP IN SEMI-FINALS OF THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

From 4-1 down in the first set, Halep reeled off an incredible 11 consecutive games to record a 6-4, 6-0 victory in just 57 minutes. 

 Her victory came by way of her greater consistency and court smarts. She continually forced the erratic Lisicki to hit one more ball thanks to stellar defence, yet she was often able to command the rallies and get Lisicki on the run with her brand of controlled aggression, a dynamic the German was far from comfortable with. Halep’s opponent in the semi-finals will be Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard.

EUGENIE BOUCHARD IN SEMI-FINAL OF THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

The No.7 seed was unable to back up the result, falling to 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard in a straight-sets quarter-final dismissal. 

 Former Junior Champion Bouchard is through to her first Wimbledon semi-final and her third in succession at a major with the 6-3, 6-4 victory and will meet Roland Garros finalist Simona Halep for a place in her first Grand Slam final. “I’m excited. She’s a very good player. I think she’s No.3 in the world. I want to go one step further,” Bouchard said of the showdown with Halep. 

“It’s a normal kind of evolution of things, as the great champions get older the newer ones come in.” Halep and Bouchard are the only two players to have reached the quarter-finals or better at the three majors so far in 2014.

SCORES 2 JULY 20014. THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

LUCIE SAFAROVA ADVANCES TO FIRST GRAND SLAM SEMI-FINAL. THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

Lucie Safarova has advanced to a first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon with a fearless 6-3, 6-1 win over Ekaterina Makarova. 

 Safarova took less than an hour to win the battle of the left-handers, the Czech establishing her dominance early by breaking Makarova’s serve in the second game and maintaining her lead with some strong serving of her own. Makarova managed just three break points for the match, two of which were saved by confident Safarova aces. She served eight for the match, with 24 winners to Makarova’s seven further highlighting her confident display. With Makarova unable to establish the rhythm that saw her upset Agnieszka Radwanska yesterday, Safarova secured three breaks of serve in the 26-minute second set.

MARIA SHARAPOVA OUT OVER KERBER IN THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

 Maria Sharapova, out 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 by Germany’s Angelique Kerber in a pulsating Centre Court encounter of two hours 37 minutes in which the Russian saved six match points before self-destructing with her 49th unforced error, a backhand which flew beyond the baseline. 

 So, on the 10th anniversary of the Wimbledon final when a 17-year-old from Siberia via Florida knelt in a mix of delight and disbelief at defeating the hot favourite Serena Williams, that teenager who has grown into the most famous superstar in women’s sport will find it difficult to believe that she did not celebrate that anniversary by marching into this year’s quarter-finals. Instead, she gave away more than 12 games’ worth of free points to an opponent who realised very early that if she kept on retrieving and returning, which she does magnificently, eventually the point, the game and then the match and the glory would be hers. 
 The third seed Simona Halep is the only one of the top five still standing, followed by Petra Kvitova, the 2011 champion at No.6 and then Kerber herself as No.9.

PETRA KVITOVA IN PRESS CONFERENCE. THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014,

Q. Another fantastic business-like performance today. How would you sum up how you're feeling now? PETRA KVITOVA: I knew that she can play very well on the grass. After my match against Venus I thought it's going to be very difficult emotionally and physically, but I had two days off, what was nice to me definitely. I can relax a little bit and focus on this match, and I think that I did it well. I mean, I was focusing on every point. It was pretty close from the beginning, and when I break her it was a little bit better for me definitely. I was more relaxed then and I could play my game. Yeah, I'm just glad that I won. That's important. 
 Q. You're one ever three Czech players through to the quarterfinals now. Is there something in the water at the moment? Something that's been happening this year? Just luck of the draw? 
 PETRA KVITOVA: I'm not pretty sure. I mean, all of us playing well this tournament of course, otherwise we are not there. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how the girls, but I think we prefer playing -- Lucie definitely -- preferring aggressive game. Barbora is just very good with the tactics and she has great touch and great volleys, slice, and everything like that. So I think it's just the grass suits us definitely. 
 Q. Is it difficult to face a compatriot? 
 PETRA KVITOVA: Definitely will be. I mean, I had a good practice for my first tournament. I played Hlavackova, and of course with Barbora it's going to be very similar if I feel the Czech ones on the other side. Of course the tactics will be totally different definitely. She's playing not like everyone here. She's playing really -- going for the volleys and playing different game. So that's what I need to be focus on. Q. Will it go back to being a three setter for you, do you anticipate? PETRA KVITOVA: Tomorrow if it's going to be three sets? 
 Q. Yeah. 
 PETRA KVITOVA: I don't know. We'll see tomorrow. 
Q. Would be it close between you and her? 
 PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I'm not pretty sure. We played last time quite long time ago, so I'm not pretty sure how it's going to go. And we never played on the grass, so we going to see.

SIMONA HALEP IN QUARTER-FINAL OF THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

In a match which would usually be part of Magic Monday but was part of the rain-affected backlog, the No.3 seed dismissed Zarina Diyas 6-3, 6-0. The chief test she faced was set by herself, when she double-faulted at 4-0 in the second – less than a crucial moment – to create two break points. 

But the micro-crisis passed, and she wrapped up the job with an emphatic break to love in a total of 57 minutes. It should be noted that 20-year-old Diyas is herself a pretty exciting prospect, having risen more than 150 places in the rankings to her current No.72 spot since she arrived at Wimbledon last year.
Both factors showed. Halep, meanwhile, breezed through showing the kind of confidence and assurance which cannot be faked. This is the fourth successive Slam where she has notched up career-best progress, having run Maria Sharapova close in the Roland Garros final last month. Here she turned on the heat from the very first game, snatching eight straight points to break for 2-1. She contented herself with that in the first set, but steamrollered the second. Once again she is proving that her rocketing climb up the rankings is no fluke – she is rising so fast because she is the real deal.

EUGENIE BOUCHARD IN QUARTER-FINAL OF THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

The No.13 seed edged the first set and then reeled off the last four games of the match to take it 7-6(5), 7-5 for a place in her third Grand Slam quarter-final of the year; moreover, she has yet to lose a set. 

 “We were really battling and we had a tough tie-break. I’m proud that I stayed in it. Even though I was playing catch-up, I always felt right there, trying to put pressure on all the time. “When I was down in the second set I had full belief and confidence in myself that I wasn’t out. It wasn’t over. I stepped up on the important moments. That’s definitely the most physical match I’ve played this tournament. I really fought to the end. “I’ve learned a lot this year since Australia,” she said. “The main thing is the confidence I’ve added since the beginning of the year. I believe in myself and I’ve proved to myself I can play on the big stage. I’ve played on centre courts, most of the Slams, big moments, big matches. I’m proud of the way I can handle it.” The match began in warm and cloudy conditions but was suspended for 35 minutes after a cloudburst on serve at 3-2. Once the Centre Court roof had done its work (“I follow the roof on Twitter – I hope he’s proud of how I played,” said Bouchard), the first set was nip and tuck with neither giving crucial ground before the tie-break. But the Frenchwoman will wish she had done more with the three break point chances she held, especially as she delivered far fewer errors than her opponent – a natural consequence of Bouchard’s attacking game. The 20-year-old, four years the younger but steely and assured, clinched the breaker with an ace for set point followed by a power return which Cornet put in the net. Yet it was Cornet – the French No.1 since the retirement last summer of reigning Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli – who appeared the more confident at the start of the second, breaking for 4-2. But mistakes crept into her game, and her repeated failed challenges only lent her a flailing air. She deserved better after her wonderful victory over Williams, which feels like such an important landmark in her rise back up the rankings – having reached No.11 in February 2009, she lost so many matches in the next two years that she repeatedly thought about quitting altogether as her ranking plummeted below 100.

PETRA KVITOVA WINS OVER PENG IN THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

For her part, Kvitova, beaming with confidence following her third-round win against five-time champion Venus Williams, wants to play down the comparisons with 2011 and her current run. “I can’t really compare them,” she said. 

 “My game, my personality on court is different now.” The results, however, are the same – and that is surely no bad thing for the No.6 seed. Kvitova is one of three Czech women through to the Ladies’ Singles quarter-finals, a first at The Championships. One is guaranteed to reach the semi-finals – Kvitova set up a showdown with Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, while Lucie Safarova is also in the bottom half of the draw after beating compatriot Tereza Smitkova earlier on Monday. No nation was better represented in either singles draw at the start of the second week. Kvitova can be the best kind of bully on court – hard-hitting, unrelenting and capable of firing back a smart answer when put in an awkward spot. So fierce was her return game that at times Peng found the ball back at her feet before she had recovered her ground. The Chinese 28-year-old cannot generate as much power as Kvitova but she was able to rechannel it, and her quick hands and double-fisted drives from both wings regularly wrong-footed the 2011 champion to keep her in touch in the first set. After saving three early break points, Peng might have stolen a lead at 3-3 when Kvitova overcooked a forehand to trail 30-40, but the Czech fired her wey out of trouble with some more huge hitting from her leftie forehand. With that, Kvitova raised her game, bringing up break point at 3-4 with a smash, and powering another sterling return at Peng’s feet before holding to love to claim the set. Another ripped forehand return at 1-1 in the second paved the way for an earlier break in the second, and with that Peng’s challenge faded. The Czech gave up just one unforced error in the second set and finished the match with 25 winners. In this kind of form, she will take some stopping.

BARBORA ZAHLAVOVA-STRYCOVA WINS OVER WOZNIACKI IN THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova is one of the more interesting people to watch play tennis.

 She is a bundle of aggressive energy, one who seems to put every exclamation and anguished expression into her shots themselves. She slices, spins, changes things up, seemingly on the whim of her emotions. Sometimes, it works spectacularly. Sometimes, not so. But last week, she was fist-pumping with gusto rather than grim defeat as she caused the first major upset of Wimbledon 2014, playing one of the matches of her career to defeat an off-key Li Na. 
It was her first victory over a top 10 player. This week, her first appearance in the second week of Wimbledon, she produced another. Defeating Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 7-5, to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final, the 28-year-old raised her head to the heavens and yelled. “It's been unbelievable,” she said. “I can't believe it, like I said already. I put a lot of work into it, and I knew always that I can play good on grass. Now the results shows off and I am glad about it.” Zahlavova Strycova, one of the record-breaking three Czech women to reach the quarter-finals here at Wimbledon and finalist in Birmingham two weeks ago, came racing out of the Court 12 stands, afforded an earlier start after the withdrawal of Madison Keys from the previous match. She wheeled through the first set in 35 minutes, firing 13 winners to Wozniacki’s three, despite hitting six more unforced errors. “I think, you know, for me it's the hardest to play against her on grass. On clay and on hard court, you know, the ball bounces up a little bit more,” Wozniacki said. “But she obviously tries to mix up the pace. She makes a lot of drop shots, a lot of slice returns that doesn't bounce up. Kind of gets you out of your rhythm a little bit.” In the second, the Czech’s first serve percentage dropped considerably, from 73 percent to below 50, as Woznacki’s fabled defence came into action. The Dane was in line for the best Wimbledon of her career, having made the fourth round on four occasions, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2014, but never finding her way further. Her unforced errors were contained, producing just three for the match, but she was in the end undone by Zahlavova Strycova’s ability to open up the court and find the gap. Saving five match points before succumbing, it was ultimately not Wozniacki’s day. But it has been a better time on the court for her than others.

ANA IVANOVIC OUT OVER LISICKI IN THE CHAMPIOSHIPS WIMBLEDON 2014

Sabine Lisicki’s love affair with the grass courts of Wimbledon continues apace. Her 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic in a match much delayed by adverse weather conditions puts her into the last 16 of the Ladies’ Singles, an event where, in her last four appearances, she has finished runner-up, a semi-finalist and twice a quarter-finalist. 

 She had already taken the opening set on Saturday evening when darkness put an end to the proceedings. Rain caused another delay on today’s resumption with Ivanovic leading 5-2 in the second set and when, after an hour and 20 minutes, they restarted the Serb promptly levelled the match, only for the German to run away with the third set in just 27 minutes, finishing off with successive aces. “It’s so much fun to play out there,” said Lisicki of the Wimbledon surface. It certainly appeared that way in the third set when she pulled away impressively. Lisicki was second only to Serena Williams last year as the WTA Tour’s ace queen with 297 in 52 matches, with 45 of them coming at the 2013 Championships. There have been 102 aces so far this year, including 16 in three rounds here. “The crowd knows my story here,” she said. “I came here as a young girl and I came back from injury. It’s a big story with Wimbledon. So I love the support I’m getting here. It’s so much more enjoyable” The two women had managed only 57 minutes on Saturday evening, and though the sun greeted their appearance on No. 1 Court after a two-day absence the clouds began to build up as Ivanovic, who was briefly world No.1 after winning the French Open six years ago and describes herself as “strong willed and extremely competitive”, lived up to that description by twice breaking the Lisicki serve before the match was again disrupted for an hour and 20 minutes. On the resumption Ivanovic, who has shown a welcome return to her form of 2008 this year by winning three titles (her first for three years), wrapped up the second set in 38 minutes of actual playing time with a love game, although benefitting from a net cord winner on set point. “In the third set my serve went down a little bit,” Ivanovic admitted. “And she served unbelievable in that third set. She played really, really good.” So well, in fact, that the 24-year-old Florida-based German rushed into a 3-0 lead, hustling Ivanovic out of her stride and breaking again for a 5-1 lead.