Petra Kvitova produced a simply scintillating performance to beat Eugenie Bouchard, 6-3 6-0 in the final to win her second Wimbledon title.  This was PEAK Petra at her absolute best as she hit 28 winners to just 12 unforced errors to complete the win in just 55 minutes.  Although Genie looked very nervous before they walked out, the only thing she was overwhelmed by was Petra’s game.  I thought Bouchard played a pretty good match and no-one on the WTA tour would have beaten Petra in this form.  To echo this point, Genie made just  FOUR UNFORCED ERRORS.  There were even a couple of longer rallies which Petra managed to win on the defence (see below!).  I was waiting for Petra to have her walkabout in the second set.  It never came.

Bouchard has had a fabulous tournament and a fabulous year.  Although I felt sorry for her at the end, she’s going to have so many more opportunities.  Although technically, Bouchard was the underdog she got all the press coming into the final.  The Daily Mail even decided to run the story about her and Laura Robson not being friends today, which was absolutely pathetic.  I’ve got to say that with all the pressure, all the media and all the expectation, Bouchard doesn’t get enough credit for how well she deals with it all.  She has shone at the Grand Slams this year, but on Saturday, she was simply outclassed by a superior performance from Petra.

Many questions have been floated about Petra Kvitova.  Why hasn’t she won more Grand Slams? Why can’t she be more consistent? Why hasn’t she pushed on since Wimbledon 2011? Kvitova is a truly awesome ball striker with the ability to blow anyone off the court, but she will ALWAYS be an inconsistent player.  On grass, her serve and huge, flat groundstrokes are lethal when on, but there is such little margin for error.  To bring consistency into her game, would take away what makes her so special.

There were some fabulous matches at Wimbledon this year, but the women’s tournament was lacking a great match in the final three rounds.  I have to admit I enjoyed watching Petra play a match LIKE THAT in the final.  But yeah, I’m a Petra fan! I really, really believed this would be a great tournament for Petra.  I think I randomly posted in a preview (around May??) that Petra was going to win Wimbledon and said don’t judge me!!!  I’m annoyed with myself for not having the guts to go for her in my original preview HERE.  The main reason I didn’t was because of the injury she picked up at Eastbourne, but I still had her to the final!

So, going forward, what can we expect from Petra? I honestly believe it will continue to be a mixed bag.  Don’t be surprised if she bombs out in the first round at her next three tournaments, but equally, don’t be surprised if she bags a title.  In my opinion, the inconsistencies will never go away, but neither will the fascination of marvelling at Petra play tennis like she did in the 2014 Wimbledon final.  Petra be Petra.

SOOOOOO HAPPPPPY FOR PETRA 😀

Poll Results: After 236 votes, 55% correctly predicted that Kvitova would beat Bouchard in the Wimbledon final