MASON, OHIO—On the heels of a careening three-set encounter at the Olympic Games, Petra Kvitova and Peng Shuai rebooted in today's Western & Southern Open third round. Kvitova bounded out of the gate to a 2-0 lead before Peng, the loser in London, held at love. Curiously, the 2011 Wimbledon champ didn’t let go with her patented squawk once today, but then again, neither she nor Peng lent much reason to do so.
Both players craft hybrid shots that rely on spin and power—they have no plan B—and on this day Kvitova simply did it far better in posting a 6-2, 6-2, victory.
It all trickles down from a player’s serve, and that made the difference. Twice broken in the middle set of their Olympic duel, Kvitova rained down big serves repeatedly. They weren’t necessarily aces, but the Czech won 73 percent of her second-serve points in the first set, defending well and widely outpacing Peng’s 33 percent on second-serve points in a 6-2 set over in 20 minutes.
The fourth-seeded Kvitova served like a minimalist today, not her usual cup of tea. She was an efficient businesswoman with just four aces and three double faults. That said, she’s almost visibly taken with the notion of making hard-court statements, winning the Montreal final against Li Na, now, and up until—and through—the big show in New York City. Her main foe there would seem to be Serena Williams at this point, but for now, Kvitova batted back all five break points Peng had and seized the four that she herself secured. That "one match at a time" cliché that players are so found of holds up, in reality.
No traction came on this day for the always-ankle-taped Peng. Anytime that she garnered a sliver of momentum, she’d start spraying the ball again. Kvitova still sometimes flew off the (racquet) handle, but never for longer than two points in a row, and in this sport, that’s no streak. The two traded darts with acute angles, as is their wont, before Kvitova broke the match open to a 6-2, 4-0 advantage.
The 6-2, 6-2, result seems routine by the score line, and it largely was a washout for Peng. She looked nothing like the player who had pushed Kvitova to a 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 Olympic win, nor like the player awarded the WTA's shot of the day on August 13. Peng was kind to sign autographs for fans young and old post-match, but the crux of the matter is that, both on court and off, she needn’t be so nice. Court 9 in Cincy has no Hawk-Eye technology, and twice she may have borne the brunt of bad calls, but she persevered indifferently, as she has in so many matches with foes who are either her lateral peers or a rung or two above. (See: Peng versus Flavia Pennetta at 2011 U.S. Open, when the latter was visibly ill and yet won in a dramatic 6-4, 7-6 grit-fest.)
As for Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova awaits in the quarterfinals. Mercurial as Kvitova can be, she shouldn’t look beyond that to the specter of a semifinal showdown opposite Serena.
—Jonathan Scott