In a third-round battle of former Wimbledon champions, the 2011 champion Petra Kvitova outlasted five-time champion Venus Williams in two and a half hours with a tight scoreline 5-7 7-6(2) 7-5.
The match that featured 36 games saw a total of just two breaks of serve, one on each side! And to add to it, there were a total of just three break points! After losing the first set, the sixth-seeded Kvitova dominated the second-set tiebreak and constantly led in the decider as the set went with serve and she was the one who opened it. The 30th-seeded Williams held her serve throughout the long encounter, but dropped it in the final, crucial, game to see Kvitova go from 6-5 to 7-5 in that set.
Despite the loss, Venus left the court with a graceful smile on her face. (photo: Moo’s Tennis Blog)
How beautifully dignified Venus was a the end. She waited for Kvitova and didn’t just march off like so many of the petulant youngsters do. I must say this was a great WTA match. I cried a bit at the end! I didn’t want either of them to lose but the sentimentalist in me was rooting for Venus and she fought so hard. They both did.
What a fabulous contest played in such great spirits! In equal measures, I was delighted for Petra and gutted for Venus. I love Petra v Venus matches and hope we get plenty more 🙂
@Rach: “How beautifully dignified Venus was a the end. She waited for Kvitova and didn’t just march off like so many of the petulant youngsters do” should actually read: “How beautifully dignified the tradition of Wimbledon, to instruct the winners/losers to wait for for the opponent and don’t just march off.”
It is a tradition but not one that many observe.
Lol Rach. Tulp is just anti-Williams anything, whether commenting or any article. He/she looks for *any* reason to criticize anyone who has anything positive to say about either Venus or Serena, and uses the veil of “loving” tennis more than that person, as well as a long paragraph of bullshit that doesn’t actually make any sense or any more sense than simple, straight forward language.
But yes. I just re-watched this match. It was fantastic. Well done to both.