Petra Kvitova is playing very much like a two-time Wimbledon champion right now. The World No. 2 simply steamrolled right through her opponents in the first two rounds. But she finally gets a jump up in competition with her third round assignment, former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic.
Can the 30-year old Serb put up a fight – or possibly pull off the upset – against the defending champion? Read on for our preview of this third-round Wimbledon women’s matchup.
Meanwhile, get ready for all the top third-round matchups in the men’s draw with our previews of Murray vs. Seppi and Federer vs. Groth.
Dominant. There’s no other way to describe how Petra Kvitova has been playing thus far in this tournament. Through two matches, the defending champion has lost just three games – none in the second set – and has spent a grand total of one hour and 34 minutes on the court for those matches.
[sc:Other240banner ]Kvitova’s serve wasn’t as outrageously efficient as it was in the first round against Kiki Bertens, where Kvitova won all but one of the 29 points during her service games. But it was still pretty good in her second round matchup against Kurumi Nara. Kvitova served up 10 aces and lost just nine total points during her service games.
Kvitova will face a significant step up in competition against Jankovic, but the defending champion will still fancy her chances of reaching the round of 16 in Wimbledon for the sixth straight time. Kvitova holds the 4-2 edge over Jankovic in their career head-to-heads, although this will be their very first meeting on grass.
Kvitova has gone 11 matches unbeaten on grass dating back to last year.
The good news for Jelena Jankovic is that she’s back in the round of 32 at Wimbledon for the first time since 2009. The not so good news – apart from her facing the defending champ, who’s looking close to unbeatable right now – is that she hasn’t quite been playing like a former World No. 1 in her first two matches.
Jankovic was taken to the very limit by World No. 89 Elena Vesnina in round one, but she prevailed – 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 – in a marathon third set. She didn’t look too great in round two against World No. 101 Evgeniya Rodina, either. The Serb lost a first set tie-break before rallying to take the match, 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-3.
Jankovic did show off her very solid return game against Rodina. She won 46 percent of receiving points and converted five of 11 break points. Jankovic’s return game will have to be at its very best if she stands any chance of taking down Kvitova and her terrific serve.
Nevertheless, Jankovic will face an uphill battle against the grass specialist Kvitova. Jankovic, who is weakest on grass, has never advanced past the fourth round in Wimbledon and last reached the round of 16 way back in 2010.
Writer’s Prediction
Kvitova (-600) rolls to another easy straight-sets win.
