Petra Kvitova makes a horrible start to 2013 with two early losses
After falling in the second round of the Brisbane International, Petra Kvitova won just two games against Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the Apia International Sydney, 6-1 6-1. Cibulkova is always a threat and she is a deserving world No.15, but these two early losses of the eighth-ranked Kvitova do put a big question mark above her fans' heads. In the defeat to Cibulkova, Kvitova recorded 35 unforced errors. After the match, when asked what went wrong, Kvitova said that everything went wrong and that she played very badly.
Did Kvitova enter the slump zone or is this just a phase she'll get out of in time? Last year she played the Sydney semifinals and followed up with a semifinal at the Australian Open.
Caroline Wozniacki also opened the season with a shock loss, to Ksenia Pervak in the first round of Brisbane, but in Sydney she recorded a comfortable 6-2 6-1 victory over Urszula Radwanska in the opening round. The freshly-engaged Maria Kirilenko is also through, with a 7-5 6-2 win over Olivia Rogowska. (via Women Who Serve and WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)
I'm quite surprise how poorly Kvitova has play thus far. Wozniacki win against Urszula Radwanska was not shocking because I think Urszula still can't see herself between Wozniacki. It might take some confidence building for Urszula to get over that.
Maybe it's just a slow start but she needs to improve a lot before the AO.