Serena Williams Thunders Past Petra

Expectations were low for the pretty 20-year old Petra Kvitova in her semifinal challenge against Serena Williams. Yes, she had soundly dismissed Caroline Wozniacki, the three seed, and Victoria Azarenka, the dangerous 14th seed, and she had rallied from 0-4 in the third set against Kaia Kanepi, but this was Serena Williams, aka Serena the Shark.

Serena Williams is a champion who knows how to close out opponents. Serena Williams is a terrific frontrunner. Serena is a champion who bullies underlings and expects to win every match. Petra Kvitova would be just one more step on the way to her fourth title at Wimbledon.

Petra Kvitova is a child. Before her match with the three-me Wimbledon champion, Kvitova told a standing-room-only media conference that she could not win Wimbledon. It was beyond her reach, unthinkable really. Perhaps that is why she charged out of the gate and played like a champion against the eventual winner.

Serena Williams

The record book will show that Serena Williams advanced to the finals by way of her 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory. Serena Williams will dominate Vera Zvonareva in the final on Saturday. Vera does not expect to win. Her 1-5 career record against Serena foretells the result.

Petra Kvitova presented a tough challenge for Williams. The 6’1” blonde lefthander has power. She has a great serve that spun away from Serena. The Czech covered the court more quickly than the world’s best player and showed a deft touch at net and on drop shots. Petra Kvitova has game and is filled with potential. Watch out world! A sleeping giant has awakened.

At 2-4, 30/40 Petra and Serena played the single most remarkable point of the tournament. Kvitova won the point after both players made three nearly impossible retrieves. The Centre Court crowd stood and applauded for four minutes, unheard of at the All England Club.

Petra won that point but lost the war. Serena ran off 10 straight points to close out the match.

Petra lost the match but showed tennis fans everywhere what is in store in the very near future. The star-to-be will no longer have to play in qualifiers. Her blonde hair and ocean deep blue eyes will soon bless every tennis fashion magazine and she may well become the sport’s new poster child. Poor Maria Sharapova will have to earn her notoriety. Wow! What a change.

More importantly, expert analyst John McEnroe, who has a good eye for tennis talent and is unquestionably the game’s most astute analyst, predicted that Petra will be a top ten player within a year. Serena Williams might think she is a top five player already.

The long lefthander certainly gave Williams everything she had. Petra posed Williams her greatest challenge this year and she is just getting started. Petra Kvitova is not Melanie Oudin. She is 6’1” with a big serve and plenty of boom.

In the first set, Kvitova gained an early break and was serving for the set when Serena pulled of the big break in the 10th game. In the tiebreaker, Williams rushed to a 4-0 lead before Petra staged a minor rally.

After claiming the tiebreaker, Williams cruised to a 4-0 lead in the second set. The lefty could not mount a comeback. To her credit, Petra handled herself beautifully. She was a credit to the game and a worthy opponent. We look forward to watching her every chance we get. Thank you, Petra!

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