Petra Kvitova has continued her unbeaten start to the season with a straight sets win over Elena Rybakina in the first round of the Adelaide International on Monday.
In a battle of the Wimbledon champions, Kvitova rallied her way to a 6-2, 7-5, win over the Kazakh who won her first major title at SW19 last year. The world No.16 won 86% of her first service points and didn’t face a single break point throughout her latest match. It is the first time she has beaten Rybakina on the Tour after losing their first meeting at the Ostrava Open last October.
“My serve really worked very well today, so that’s why I’m very happy and obviously it was a tough first round,” said Kvitova.
“We didn’t really have a lot of rallies. It was about the serve and first one or two points of the rallies, so I’m glad that I was there for every shot.”
Rybakina, who is currently ranked 21st in the world, will head into the Australian Open with only one win to her name this season after two tournaments played. Last week in the first Adelaide tournament, she beat Marta Kostyuk in three sets before getting knocked out in the second round.
Meanwhile, Kvitova is currently on a three-match winning streak following the United Cup where she recorded wins over world No.3 Jessica Pegula and Laura Siegemund. The Czech Republic failed to progress beyond the group stages of the mixed event but Kvitova says the tournament was still a confidence boost for her.
“I love quicker surfaces,” said Kvitova, who has won 19 out of her 29 Tour titles on a hardcourt. “I really enjoyed it, especially with the boys. It was a fun vibe and everything. It just gave me great practices and great matches and a great attitude as well.
“I came here playing quite well, so I’m glad that I showed it today as well.”
The 32-year-old will be hoping her surge in form will help her at the upcoming Australian Open where she has failed to win back-to-back matches the past two years. Kvitova’s best result at the Grand Slam was in 2019 when she finished runner-up to Naomi Osaka.
Elsewhere in Adelaide, Danielle Collins brushed aside an erratic Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 6-4, in less than 80 minutes. The American got off to a perfect start by winning the first five games of the match before Pliskova managed to get onto the scoreboard. Overall, she broke the former world No.1 five times in the match.
“I was wondering whether it was going to happen at 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and then at 5-0 she (Pliskova) hit some great shots that were too good,” Collins said afterwards.
“I had to make some adjustments and get back into it, stay calm.
“But I don’t think Karolina was at her best. It’s ups and downs with the tennis and (about) just riding it out.
“I know how that is being on the other side of it, hopefully I can keep playing my best tennis.”
In the second round, Collins will play Swiss qualifier Jil Teichmann who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5 6-4. Meanwhile, Kvitova will take on either Shelby Rogers or Zheng Qinwen.
