2012 Wimbledon Preview: Petra Kvitova

Kvitova may be sitting in her London rental flat as you read this, wondering where the entire past year has gone. She’s the defending champion at Wimbledon, and she’s sure to be feeling the heat after a dismal start to 2011. Most pundits thought it an encouraging sign last year when, after a brief post-Wimbledon slump, Kvitova went on an autumn tear, playing so well that the main reason she was unable to rip the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking out of Caroline Wozniacki’s hands was that she ran out of time. A strong Australian Open might have put her over the top and secured that top ranking just a month into this new year. Kvitova didn’t get the job done, falling in the Aussie Open semis to Maria Sharapova. It would be months before she won back-to-back matches again, and while she improved during the clay-segment, it may have been too little, too late to make much of a difference at Wimbledon.

Why She’ll Win:
The pride of a champion may kick in and fire what is by any stretch a lethal grasscourt game anchored in a swerving lefty serve and go-forbroke mentality.

Why She Won’t:
A lot of pressure comes with being defending champ. Kvitova will be haunted by knowing it’s been almost a half-a-year since she’s played the kind of tennis that won her this title 12 months ago.

Bottom Line:
Kvitova needs to pull her game together, and quickly. The way Maria Sharapova dismantled her just weeks ago in the French Open semifinals was cringe-inducing.

More Previews

—Victoria Azarenka
—Tomas Berdych
—Novak Djokovic
—Roger Federer
—John Isner
—Petra Kvitova
—Andy Murray
—Rafael Nadal
—Agnieszka Radwanska
—Maria Sharapova
—Serena Williams
—Caroline Wozniacki