Who would have thought it? Li Na and Petra Kvitova--great players who have not had the seasons they should have had--have made it to the final in Monreal. Li came from 1-5 down in the third set to beat Lucie Safarova, and Kvitova--who appeared to benefit from another rain break--defeated 2010 Rogers Cup champion Caroline Wozniacki in three sets.
This was, by the way, the first time that a match between Kvitova and Wozniacki went to three sets. Kevin Skinner, who did a good job of calling the match on Tennis TV, said "Good for you" if you saw the Kvitova phenomenon coming in 2011--so good for me, I guess! He was also quick to point out the cleverness of someone in the booth: Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" played while Piotr Wozniacki blabbed non-stop to his charge during one of the breaks.
Li Na summed it all up very well, as usual: "This is tennis. You have
to put the ball over the net and back in the court. It looks easy, but
sometimes it can be hard to do."
Klaudi Jans-Ignacik and Kristina Mladenovic won the doubles title. The unseeded team defeated 3rd seeds Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik 7-5, 2-6, 10-7.
Those who did not see Kvitova coming at least by 2011, if not in 2010, are people who follow scorelines, wins and losses and little else. To have seen her coming one has to be aware of stroke production, footwork, serve placement and power, but not too much on marketability and sex. Few writers, Diane and Richard Pagliaro excepted, saw her coming. Pete Bodo picked her timidly before Wimbledon 2011, to his credit. I had to send some of the others videos of exquisitely placed volleys and incredible transitions between defense and offense when they called her just another basher. Petra has all of the shots and can deliver winners from any position on the playing surface, as Bartoli pointed out yesterday. Most of the pundits were reluctant even then. Understand that writers are looking for a story to sell convincingly...NOW. It blinds them too often.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm at it, have any of you seen Laura Robson coming? Dear friends, I take my leave. Nite.
It was nice to see how smiley Li and Kvitova were before the match! :) I wonder if they are friends...
ReplyDeleteKvitova is wearing Li Na's bottom and Sharapova's top...and somehow it's simply Petra...and although the colors clash, it kinda works.
ReplyDeleteI like the outfit a lot.
ReplyDeletePetra won it. Good first set. Second set swoon (serve went away), but let Na know that she was still there at the end of the set by thumping a few to win a game. In the third set Li did not hold a single break point and Petra was 100% on her first serves. That pattern held in Istanbul, Fed Cup and now again.
ReplyDeleteI like the outfit too.
At least they are proving that even though they haven't had a great season they haven't lost their touch.
ReplyDelete