Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Petra Kvitova serves and volleys her way past Greet Minnen
Petra Kvitova was in some form in her opening match against Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen at the 2019 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. She won the match 6-1 6-4 in 1 hour and 13 minutes.
The Czech third seed came into the match high on confidence. She suffered a setback early, dropping her opening service game, but then looked to be in cruise control for the entirety of the set, so much so that she began serving and volleying whenever she got the opportunity.
Kvitova was in no mood to concede any points and could be seen defending balls that she normally would have let go. On the other hand, when she was attacking, Minnen, who was not playing too badly herself, had very few answers.
That is the issue with playing against an in-form opponent, especially one with the caliber of Kvitova. Minnen was solid from the baseline, even producing a couple of stunning winners down the line. She also showcased some handy netplay and deft touches, but she was ultimately outmuscled by the power of the Kvitova serve and groundstrokes.
Kvitova's game was not without its flaws though. When her timing was slightly off, she missed by huge margins. She also hit a few too many unforced errors, but that's become part of her game over the years.
Kvitova was extremely aggressive tonight, playing over 20 percent of the points from inside the baseline in contrast to just 7 percent from her opponent. It helped that despite missing a few shots, her mindset did not change and she kept going for the lines.
It was an incredible performance from the Czech. She was not perfect, but again, at this stage of the tournament, she did not have to be.