It was a stunning world-class performance from eighth seed #PetraKvitova as she stormed into her first Major quarterfinal since the 2017 US Open. Kvitova looked absolutely flawless on the court when she ousted American surprise package #AmandaAnisimova in the fourth round of the 2019 #AustralianOpen, strolling past the teenager with a one-sided 6-2, 6-1 scoreline after just 59 minutes of action.
Exacting revenge for her Indian Wells loss last year, Kvitova extended her winning streak to nine consecutive matches as she looked unstoppable on her pursuit for a third Major title, and first outside Wimbledon. Kvitova was firing on all cylinders, firing 18 winners to just 15 unforced errors while winning 83 percent of her first serve points. It is also extraordinary that Kvitova only missed five first serves throughout the entire match.
Anisimova, with her game being clearly affected by the nerves and atmosphere, found just eight winners and committed 20 unforced errors. Nonetheless, she should be proud of her run this week as she became the first player born in the 2000s to reach the second week of a Major. Kvitova will face Ashleigh Barty in the quarterfinals.
Kvitova storms to the one-sided first set
The nerves certainly reflected in Anisimova’s game as the American started the match with three consecutive forehand unforced errors to hand Kvitova the opening break of serve. The youngster gained some of the momentum as she was able to find winners with her explosive game which requires her to do little to generate power, but the Czech stood firm and consolidated the break with an ace.
Anisimova finally got onto the scoreboard with a spirited service hold, but Kvitova was quick to shut down the comeback door with a fast hold, and she was serving exceptionally well today. Anisimova was then forced to survive a marathon service game, having to save two break points to narrow the deficit to just one game.
Kvitova could not stop firing winners as she was dictating the majority of the rallies against the sluggish American, who looked out-of-sorts and was playing way below her standard level today. Anisimova’s series of unforced errors started to frustrate her, and she soon fell behind by a double break as Kvitova ultimately served out the first set to love after just 32 minutes of play.
Kvitova seals the win
A complete contrast to the first set, Anisimova seemed to have learnt from the experience and started the second set with a bang — finding her range to hold serve in an emphatic fashion. Finding herself in a tricky 30-30 situation, Kvitova came up with the goods as she fired an unreturnable serve before finding a world-class forehand down-the-line winner (which earned the applause from Anisimova herself) to hold for 1-1.
Anisimova completely lost her way from 40-15 up in the following game, committing three consecutive errors to get broken for the third time in the morning. A run of 10 straight points saw Kvitova safely in the driving seat and did not seem to let loose. The American youngster was putting up a tougher challenge for the eighth seed, but to no avail, as Kvitova proved to be too strong eventually.
A perfect service game saw Kvitova producing two huge backhand winners which just zoomed past Anisimova and consolidated the break for a huge 5-1 lead within a blink of an eye. Anisimova served to stay in the match, but the Czech was playing some lights-out tennis as three consecutive forehand winners eventually allowed her to claim the terrific, confidence-boosting win.
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