WHAT HAPPENED: Andea Petkovic of Germany scraped by No. 6 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-4, in a tight contest defined by Kvitota's struggles with her serve and her forehand, both hampered by an arm injury.
Petkovic had a clear game plan—pick on Kvitova’s strapped left arm to test her opponent’s forehand. It worked. Kvitota made 22 errors off her strongest wing, 16 of them unforced, including a soft overhead on match point that sailed wide. Kvitota’s other weapon, her serve, also wasn’t at its best. She landed only 58 percent of her first serves and three aces to three double-faults.
Petkovic, ranked No. 88 now and once as high as No. 9 in the world, sealed the first set on her first chance and first break point of the set. At love-40, she got a lucky net cord that landed short and close to the sideline, and Kvitova netted the return.
In the second set, Petkovic gave Kvitova an opening right away by playing too aggressively rather than giving her opponent more chances to miss forehand drives. In the first game, the German double-faulted to set up break points and eventually lost the game on a volley error. Then Kvitova’s potent power showed up when she needed it, and she pulled ahead, 3-1, with points for an insurance break after Petkovic double-faulted three times, again taking too many risks instead of protecting her lead. But Kvitova made two wild backhand errors and didn’t seize the momentum. Facing break point at 4-3, she missed a backhand, overhead. Petkovic gave Kvitova one last chance to get into the match by double-faulting in her 4-4 game to set up break points, but after a few more forehand errors from Kvitova, it was over.
WHAT IT MEANS: For Kvitota, the loss probably delayed the inevitable. She withdrew from last week’s Bronx Open to nurse her sore left arm, and it obviously hampered her today. Petkovic let her hang around more than she should have. Kvitova would have struggled against an opponent with more ability to finish points and attack second serves.
Petkovic, a former quarterfinalist here, has some opportunity to win a couple more rounds in a section vacated by No. 11 seed Sloane Stephens, who lost in the first round. She will play the winner of No. 25 seed Elise Mertens and unseeded Krystina Pliskova next. She is into the third round of a Slam for the second time in 2019. It also opens up the draw for 20-year-old Alina Kalinskaya, who beat Stephens in straight sets in Round 1, and who could be on a path to a breakout tournament. She made her first WTA semifinal in Washington, D.C., last month, then qualified for the US Open and took out the 2017 champion.
MATCH POINT: With this victory, Petkovic picked up her first Top 10 win of the season.
