What a tremendous 2017 version of the Aegon Classic. It has had everything. Drama, quality matches, some of the world’s best players and the greatest stories to tell in the big final on Sunday.
Not many, if any, would have predicted this final. Kvitova’s year has only just begun and considering it was her second tournament of 2017, not many thought she’d find her range and a high level at such an early stage in the process back. She surprised everyone, but as this week has shown – you should never bet against a sporting champion and that is exactly what Petra Kvitova is.
Barty’s return to the tour in 2016 wasn’t as emotionally-invested as what many tennis fans feel for Kvitova, but either way it will be such a good story for the tournament and for tennis whoever comes out with the victory.
So, how will the match unfold and what will be the keys to victory for both players tomorrow? The game is nice and simple for Kvitova. If she serves well and finds her spots in the service box then she can win this match with relative ease. Also if she can get the points finished within 2 to 3 shots after the serve and impose her aggressive game on Barty, then it becomes a grass court masterclass from Petra as we have seen this week and in many years at Wimbledon. The key is whether Kvitova’s first strike tennis materialises in the first successful tournament back in a WTA Final, because Barty has the capability to make this difficult, without question.
The strategy that Barty will try to navigate is to use her slice, which works so well on this surface. To give Kvitova different balls to deal with to prevent her from finding the necessary rhythm. But what she needs to look out for is overplaying the slice. Kvitova is tremendous at picking and choosing the correct balls to flurry forward and may start predicting when to take the slice out of the air, which is something Barty has to be wary of.
Kvitova’s served well all week. Had a slight wobble in her match against Kristina Mladenovic, but from her first two grass court matches it looked set that she perhaps was going to recreate some of her grass court form quicker than suggested and predicted. The placement of Kvitova’s serve gives her the momentum and say at the beginning of every rally. She utilises the serve out wide with her left hand with perfection, but this match really is all about Kvitova.
The Czech’s hot-and-cold game where she virtually either hits a winner or an unforced error and dictates nearly every point, actually has set her back at times, but it is true that Kvitova knows the match is on her racquet if she executes her game in the best way possible on the day.
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