Petra Kvitova, the reigning Wimbledon champion and #4 player in the world, will most likely be seeded fourth at the season’s second Grand Slam, the French Open. The French Tennis Federation, unlike the All England Club for the Wimbledon championships, seeds players based on their current WTA ranking.
Though Kvitova lost in the quarterfinals at the Italian Open last week to eventual finalist Carla Suarez Navarro, she comprehensively dismantled both two-time French Open champion Serena Williams and 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets to claim her second title at the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this month. Her resounding defeat of world #1 Serena Williams was her first in six attempts and ended Williams’ 27-match winning streak. On the heels of this incredible and significant victory, Petra Kvitova most impressively maintained her focus and thwarted any semblance of a let-down over the course of the final.
Her straight-sets loss to Carla Suarez Navarro at the Italian Open should not be classified as an upset given Navarro’s current and career-high ranking of #8. Saurez Navarro is an accomplished clay-court player who leads the WTA tour (tied with Lucie Hradecka) in most match wins this year with thirty-one. Seven of her nine tour finals were on the dirt including her lone tour title, the 2014 Portugal Open, where she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets.
Petra Kvitova’s win/loss record at the French Open is 15-6 with her best finish in 2012 when she reached the semifinals. Kvitova, with her explosive lefty serve and punishing groundstrokes, possesses the requisite tools to claim the crown at Roland Garros. Though the terre battue typically neutralizes the serve, a lefty most definitely maintains an advantage on all surfaces–one which Kvitova capitalized upon, serving 36 aces en route to her first Wimbledon title in 2011.
Petra Kvitova, like the three-time French Open champion Monica Seles (also left-handed) did twenty years earlier, consistently produces sharp angles with her two-handed backhand and lefty forehand. Undeniably, this is a huge weapon on the clay where ungainly movers and uncoordinated sliders are enticed out-wide or forward, artfully exposing their weaknesses.
Even though Kvitova has proclaimed that grass is her favorite surface and Wimbledon remains her most successful Grand Slam tournament with two titles (2011, 2014), I am convinced she has the aggressive style and renewed mental clarity to excel on the terre battue. It was precisely this brand of high-risk tennis that enabled her to hit 33 winners in the 66-minute match against a formidable clay-court player, Svetlana Kuznetsova, to win her second Madrid Open on the dirt two weeks ago.
The internet is saturated with articles and tweets anointing Maria Sharapova, the defending French Open champion, the clear favorite following her three set victory over Carla Suarez Navarro this past Sunday at the Italian Open. Certainly, Sharapova benefits greatly from this win; she has surpassed Romania’s Simona Halep in the rankings and is currently ranked #2. Consequently, she will be seeded second at the French Open thereby avoiding battle with her nemesis, World #1 Serena Williams, until the final should they both progress that far.
Though Maria Sharapova won her third Italian Open, I do not consider her the favorite to repeat as Roland Garros champion due to her lack of agility, and flexibility. Petra Kvitova’s greatest challenge on the terre battue will come from the #11 ranked player, Angelique Kerber. This season Kerber is 11-2 on clay having won prestigious titles at the Family Circle Cup and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Kerber, currently competing at one of the final clay-court tune-up events prior to the French Open, the Nurnberger Cup in Nuremberg, Germany, is seeded second there and through to the third round.
The second Grand Slam of the season will soon commence in the city of lights and of this I am certain: there will be blood, sweat and tears on the terre battue at Stad Roland Garros and a new queen will be crowned.
Main Photo
