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Kvitova in the zone

Kvitova in the zone

01/21/2012 03:13:19 AM

She may have been helped by an injury to Maria Kirilenko but Czech Petra Kvitova was in hot form for the 38 minutes she was on court on Saturday at the Australian Open.

The Wimbledon champion and No.2 seed still managed to blast 20 winners past a hapless Kirilenko, who strained a groin muscle in the opening game of the match and then may have aggravated it even further on a serve and volley in the fifth.

After falling 0-5 behind, Kirilenko called for a medical timeout and underwent five minutes of treatment which included having her left thigh heavily strapped but it was to no avail as she eventually conceded defeat with Kvitova leading 6-0 1-0.

As well as her dominance around the court as she capitalised on her wounded foe, Kvitova also won 12 of 14 points on her own serve as she broke four times, and with the match over in only 42 points Kvitova said she hopes to carry on her strong form in the fourth round.

"Yeah, I mean, what I played the first five games was great," said Kvitova, who was far happier with her brief display than in her three-set win over Carla Suarrez Navarro on Thursday.

"I mean, yeah, from the last match what I played was really different, and I'm really happy how I played today."

"Hopefully it will continue like this."

The 21-year-old also suggested that Kirilenko's up-tempo style had played into her hands as a fast game suits her own power hitting far more than was the case against Suarrez Navarro.

"Well actually we had good practices today and I felt very well," she added.

"You know, it's different match, and every match it's really different."

"I mean, maybe I like how Maria is playing, faster, and it's really going, yeah."

Kirilenko meanwhile was left to lament an injury that ruined her chances of victory because it limited her court coverage.

"She (Kvitova) was playing very good today and I couldn't say that I was starting the game bad, I was playing also not bad," said Kirilenko.

"She's just closing her eyes and she hit everything and everything was in, (so) I pretty much didn't have any chances today."

Having suffered a similar injury a couple of years ago, which sidelined her for about three weeks, Kirilenko knows what's ahead of her after she spends the next 24 hours icing the painful ailment before undergoing scans on Sunday.

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images

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