Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard will contest what is likely to be a fascinating conclusion to the 2014 women’s Wimbledon Championships.  Bouchard progressed into her first Grand Slam final after defeating Simona Halep, 7-6(5) 6-1.  It was an odd semi-final, one that promised so much, but didn’t quite deliver.  The crucial moment seemed to come at 2-2 when Simona jarred her ankle, just about saving near disaster, but enough to require a medical time-out (MTO) and the need for layer upon layer of ankle taping.  Neither were playing particularly well, but it was Bouchard who raised her level in the first set tiebreak.  Halep saved one set point with the shot of the match, a fantastic DTL forehand, but Genie converted on the next point.  After losing the tiebreak, Halep’s challenge faded.  To her credit, Halep made no deal at all about the injury, although it seemed quite obvious that it was an issue.

Bouchard acts like a champion.  There was barely a smile at the end and also surprisingly, not much reaction from her family (although Jim Parsons looked DElighted).  She’s gunning for the title, but personally, it’s nice to see a little bit of emotion because making a Grand Slam final for the first time is a big deal.  Each to their own.  Genie is becoming a big time player and I think it is worth mentioning that she lost to Vania King in the first round of s’Hertogenbosch just over two weeks ago.  In the end, the second semi-final match was an anticlimax.  I think the Halep v Bouchard rivalry will be a great one and I do hope they play again this year.  Both are looking in a great position to qualify for the YEC in Singapore, which is going to be FASCINATING this year.

In the second semi-final, Kvitova edged out Lucie Safarova, 7-6(6) 6-1.  A few words about Lucie.  She played an excellent match considering she was playing on Centre Court for the first time (I think?) and in her first Grand Slam semi-final.  She was edging it in the first set and Petra admitted it too.  Lucie can be so proud of her efforts this week and is projected to move up to world number 17 in the rankings, matching her previous best.  I have my fingers and toes crossed she is going to really push on and not just fade into the abyss.  Petra admitted in an interview with the BBC that nerves affected her in the first set.  It was her super accurate serve that saved her and then once she got her groundies going, she was flawless in the second set.  Lucie got close on Petra’s serve on several occasions, but every time, Petra slammed the door shut and dished up a delightful squawk.  The tweet below is EVERYTHING.

https://twitter.com/MooTennisBlog/status/484692683664158720

Kvitova and Bouchard have played each other just once before in Toronto last year.  Kvitova won that match, 6-3 6-2 in one hour and 26 minutes.  Genie has come on leaps and bounds since then.  The final has a number of different dimensions, all intriguing.  This is only Petra’s second Grand Slam final, having won Wimbledon in 2011 where she produced a superb display to beat Maria Sharapova, 6-3 6-4 in the final.  This is Bouchard’s first Grand Slam final. She has proven with her quiet, steely determination that she is unlikely to be phased like Sabine Lisicki was last year.  Bouchard did wobble at the end of her semi-final with Halep, but she always seems to overcome the wobbles in time to seal the deal.

Highlights from Kvitova v Bouchard in Toronto 2013

If Petra is serving like she did against Safarova, she’s winning this title.  She did show some nerves against Lucie early on and will go into this final as the favourite, a different proposition to the final she played with Maria in 2011.  Genie will need to be aggressive, get Petra on the move and stay in the moment when Petra is unleashing winners, left, right and centre.  You can bet on Genie to make this competitive.  I’m sticking with Petra all the way.

Prediction: Kvitova d. Bouchard in 3 sets

Poll Results for Semi-Finals: 46% correctly predicted that Bouchard would beat Halep and 73% correctly predicted that Kvitova would beat Safarova.

As always, your comments are much appreciated.  Agree / Disagree? Genie / Petra? Who you got…