Kvitova's Wimbledon Triumph - Start of a New Era | Thebigtip

Last night we witnessed the start of a new era in women's tennis with Petra Kvitova defeating Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-4 in the Wimbledon final. It was a sensational performance from the first time finalist.

Maria Sharapova was outplayed in the 1st set and even though Sharapova fought hard in the 2nd set and got a couple of breaks, Kvitova broke back each time and held her composure well. Kvitova fought off the nerves to serve out the match to love, even serving her first ace on match point.

I saw Kvitova for the first time two weeks ago. I travelled to Eastbourne to watch the Aeagon International final between Kvitova and Marion Bartoli of France. That final lasted 2hrs and 30 minutes and was an interesting match just before Wimbledon. Kvitova lost the match in 3 sets but I was very impressed with her game and attitude.

The first set went by like a flash as Kvitova lost the 1st set 6-1 in 29 minutes. Kvitova was hitting shots all over the place and couldn’t get the ball in court for more than three shots at any one time. This was surprising as she had played her semi final just two hours earlier due to rain the day before. So you would have expected her to be in good form from the get go.

Kvitova started the 2nd set in much the same way, going a break down early with Bartoli hitting her trademark groundstrokes.

Then, all of a sudden, Kvitova started making her serves and hitting winners. The whole match turned around with Kvitova breaking back and winning the 2nd set 6-4. The 3rd set was also tight but in the end Bartoli’s desire and greater experience came through to take the title.

Even though Kvitova lost the match, a few things were quite impressive about her performance. Despite losing the 1st set so convincingly, Kvitova was willing to go for her shots and once her shots went in, she was very dangerous.

Kvitova also has a great left serve which she uses to her advantage on both deuce and ad courts. She also likes the one two punch combination of getting a quick serve and hitting a winner on the next shot.

Kvitova has definitely grown since losing the 2010 Wimbledon semi final to Serena Willians, as she is now 6 feet tall. Her height affected her when retrieving low balls, as she was reluctant to really get down low to shots.

However, she has a great slice and has very good volleying skills. She is always prepared to slice the short ball and attack the net. I find myself really enjoying Kvitova's play when she gets it right. She had already won a couple of tournaments this year including the Brisbane International on hard courts, not to mention the Paris indoors and Madrid on clay.

In the Wimbledon semi final against Victoria Azarenka, Kvitova played some of the best Tennis seen in years in the womens game.

Kvitova won the 1st set 6-1 and Azarenka had no chance. In fact, Azarenka played reasonably well, keeping her unforced error rate down, but the fourth seed was blown away by Kvitova's serving exhibition, not to mention her ability to hit winners anywhere on the court in an absolutely effortless manner - always the sign of a naturally talented player.

Kvitova tightened up in the 2nd set, allowing Azarenka to get back in the match. However, Kvitova got her mind back together in the 3rd set and once again her shotmaking proved too much for Azarenka. 

One of the reasons why Kvitova is successful surrounds the fact that she possess that rare gift which we haven’t seen in the womens game for some time. If Kvitova plays well, she will win most of her matches against her opponents because she has the ability to overwhelm her opponents.

Other players that have possessed the ability to overwhelm their opponents include Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. In the last few years we’ve had a succession of players who don’t really have that extra skill or X factor. Some may point to Ana Ivanovic but she doesn’t possess the serving ability of Kvitova which is one of the reasons her game has fallen away so dramatically.

Kvitova certainly has the opportunity to become the best player in the world, so long as she has the desire to keep improving and become more consistent on all surfaces, whilst keeping the spontaneity in her game which the crowd loves to see in naturally talented players. Now with a Wimbledon triumph under her belt, this really is the start of a new era.