Petra Kvitova is a two-time Wimbledon champion, but she doesn’t exactly have the best track record at the Australian Open. The World No. 7 is in some peril of making another quick exit in Melbourne as she must overcome the talented 21-year-old Daria Gavrilova in the next round.
Can the up-and-coming Aussie cause the big-time upset? Read on for our preview of this second-round Australian Open matchup. And for more women’s Round of 64 action, check out our previews of Sharapova vs. Sasnovich and Radwanska vs. Bouchard.
Petra Kvitova got her Australian Open campaign started on the right foot with a quick straight-sets win over Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum. The Czech needed just 70 minutes to check herself into the second round for the eighth-straight Grand Slam. She’s reached at least the third round in all eight of those tournaments as well.
[sc:AUS15-250 ]Kvitova didn’t show any signs of the illness which forced her to retire in Shenzhen. Her service game in particular was on point against Kumkhum. She won 79 percent of her first serve points and 63 percent of second serve points. She also converted 5-of-9 break points.
Kvitova is rightly installed as the -380 favorite to make her way to the third round. The Czech is a grass court specialist as evidenced by her two Wimbledon titles, but she can hold her own on hard court as well. She won two hard court titles last season, and finished 20-9 on the surface overall.
Kvitova defeated Daria Gavrilova in their only meeting thus far in last season’s Wuhan Open, which was also on hard court.
World No. 39 Daria Gavrilova was given a decent enough workout by Lucie Hradecka in her first-round Australian Open matchup. The 21-year-old needed a tie-breaker in the first set, but eventually clinched the 7-6(3), 6-4 straight-sets win in one hour and 44 minutes.
Gavrilova’s service game was on point, as she put 71 percent of her first serves in play and won 71 of those first serve points. She also saved all 10 break points and was helped by Hradecka’s 34 unforced errors.
Gavrilova doesn’t have the best record on hard court. She’s gone just 15-24 on the surface over the last three years. She also doesn’t have much Grand Slam experience, and hasn’t gone past the third round in any of her five previous appearances.
However, the youngster is interestingly priced at +290 to finally reach the third round at Kvitova’s expense. Gavrilova lost her first meeting with the Czech star, but she gave the World No. 6 all she could handle before succumbing in three sets. Gavrilova should also be buoyed by the fact that Kvitova has crashed out of the Aussie Open before the third round twice in the past three years.
Writer’s Prediction
Gavrilova (+290) gets the better of Kvitova and scores the upset in three sets.
