By Kieran Jackson | Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Petra Kvitova launched her Birmingham title defense with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Johanna Konta.
Photo credit: @BritishTennis
Petra Kvitova launched her Birmingham title defense with a bang.
The two-time Wimbledon champion impressively overcame British No. 1 Johanna Konta, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Nature Valley Classic on Tuesday.
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The defending champion was ultimately the more consistent of the two players, with her flat, aggressive game, perfectly suited to grass, dictating points very effectively from the back of the court.
Konta had her chances, particularly in the second set, yet couldn’t convert, and remarkably double-faulted twice to gift her Czech opponent a break of serve at 4-4 in the second set. Kvitova served it out, and will play Daria Gavrilova in round two.
“For the first match [on grass], I think it was fine”, said the Czech left-hander. “I think when we rallied, it was me who was dominating with the depth of my ball. Of course, there are a couple of things I could improve, but overall I’m glad after three days on the grass I could play a good game.”
Konta, following her controversial defeat in the Nottingham final to Australian Ashleigh Barty, thought she matched her opponent for large chunks of the match, despite the loss
“I think for 90 percent of the match I was actually shoulder to shoulder with her – it’s just that 10 percent, which I need to work on to come through in some of those close moments," Konta said. "She’s one of the best players in the world right now, but I think overall I’m pleased with the level I was able to play at.”
There was more disappointment for British fans, as 2017 Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Heather Watson lost 7-6 (2), 7-5 to Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine.
The only real shock of the day was an eye-opening defeat for No. 8-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe.
The powerful American, who reached the semifinals in 's-Hertogenbosch last week, failed to save four out of five break points against her Croatian opponent Petra Martic, losing 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour.
Earlier on in the day, second seed Elina Svitolina came through a tough battle against 21-year old Donna Vekic.
The Ukrainian, who accepted a late wild card into the event, eventually came through a topsy-turvy encounter 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, in one hour and 30 minutes.
Svitolina, who admitted before the tournament that she simply wanted to come through the grass-court season injury-free, admitted she was extremely pleased with her performance.
“I think it was a great, solid performance”, said the world number four. “I’m very happy with the way I was playing in general, and now I need to recover quickly, because the first match on grass is tricky, as you can be sore here and there.”
Elsewhere, first seed Garbiñe Muguruza breezed through her opening match, thrashing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkva 6-1, 6-2 in the last match on Centre Court.
There were also wins for fifth-seeded German Julia Goerges – 6-4, 6-4 against Greek Maria Sakkari – sixth seed Daria Kasatkina, who scraped through in three sets against qualifier Kristyna Pliskova, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 and Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet, who beat Ekaterina Makarova 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. Cornet will play Svitolina tomorrow in the second round.
The highlights on Wednesday’s order of play see Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka face qualifier Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia, and Magdalena Rybarikova (who beat third seed Karolina Pliskova in the first round) play Kristina Mladenovic of France, as second round action begins in Birmingham.
Freelance sports journalist Kieran Jackson is covering the grass-court season ahead of Wimbledon for Tennis Now. For more of Kieran's tennis coverage, follow him on Twitter.