Well hello smiling Petra… Petra Kvitova produced an irresistable performance to defeat an under-the-weather, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1 6-2 in just 66 minutes.  Kuznetsova had a medical time-out at the end of the first set and also ran off the court before the final game due to a stomach complaint.  It was a real shame that Sveta wasn’t 100% for this final although it didn’t come as a huge surprise considering the amount of tennis she has played this week.  Take nothing away from Petra though who delivered a near-faultless display… Peak Petra was definitely in the house.

Kvitova was a little up and down in the first set but powered through it with some stellar serving.  Kvitova won 12 of 13 points on her first serve in the first set.  In the second set, it all just came together.  Forehands, backhands, returns, volleys and that serve.  Kvitova finished with stats of 33 winners to 14 unforced errors.  Kuznetsova didn’t have that spark that she had in some of her previous matches, but she didn’t play a bad match at all.  She only hit nine unforced errors highlighting how Petra took this match away from her.

This was only Kvitova’s second tournament back after skipping Indian Wells and Miami, and i’m surprised she was able to find her rhythm so quickly. I don’t think many saw this coming, particuarly as Petra was down a set in her first match of the week against Olga Govortsova.  Generally speaking, Kvitova is vulnerable early on in tournaments but when she gets to the latter stages, she’s almost always on it.  Take this tournament as an example as she needed three sets to get past Govortsova and Coco Vandeweghe in her first two matches, but she then went on to defeat Serena Williams and Kuznetsova in straight sets! Kvitova extended her superb recent record in finals to 9-2.  It’s great to see Petra back in contention and looking fit and healthy.  I’m still not convinced she is a title contender for Roland Garros but this week should give her a great deal of confidence going forward.  Bring on the grass…