The final event of the main WTA season in Guadalajara kicked off this week, but today was a bad day for my favourites.
Sadly, both Petra Kvitova and Barbora Krejcikova lost today in matches where they really didn’t play very well at all.
Krejcikova was on a nine match winning streak after taking the titles in Tallinn and Ostrava, but looked out of sorts from the beginning, not timing the ball well at all against Anna Kalinskaya. She is a talented Russian player who won a title at a lower level in Guadalajara earlier in the year, and today took out Krejcikova in straight sets.
Krejcikova came onto the court wearing a visor again after winning two titles without it, however, even removing the visor didn’t have the desired effect. She got a break back but she was immediately broken again, and the errors continued as Barbara became more and more frustrated. A disappointing end to the singles year for the Czech, but two titles indoors was overall a good result and a final win of the season being that Ostrava final is a good memory.
Meanwhile, Petra Kvitova took on Bianca Andreescu, the 2019, US Open champion who has struggled with injury big-time since then. I’ll come out and say it I do not like Andreescu. Her drama queen antics, and that stupid scrunchie she wears on her arm, just irritate me!
Kvitova got a win yesterday over Bernarda Pera who she beat just a few weeks ago in Ostrava. This time it was straight sets and Petra played well. Today on the second Court, the smaller court in Guadalajara (why on earth was this match not on the main court?) Petra started well, striking the ball beautifully and Andreescu could not cope with the pace of her ball. Andreescu hung in when Petra looked to be running away with a set, but Petra was too strong and took the first 6-3. Unfortunately that’s where the good news ends as she failed to hold serve in sets two and three. I’m not sure if the wrist injury she has been suffering from from much of the year was still affecting her, but she was spraying the ball all over the place and the bagel final set was kind of symptomatic of a very bad day for Petra and us fans.
The only bright spot on a dark day was an excellent win for Katerina Siniakova, over Beatriz Haddad Maia who has been one of the best players of the year. Siniaková, often so erratic, was extremely solid today, unlike most of the other Czechs. Karolina Pliskova also lost to Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
This final event of the season will determine who plays in the Year End Championships. Already qualified are runaway number 1 Iga Swiatek , Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula. Petra was in with a chance if she won the title, but it was always a very long shot and doubtful whether she would even play if she had qualified. Krejcikova also had a chance of making the finals but needed to win the title
Anyway, so ends the regular singles season for my faves. Both suffered injury hit seasons but had some successes. From June onwards, Kvitova’s year has been pretty good on the whole. The title in Eastbourne being a highlight, but also making the final in Cincinnati and a fourth round of the U.S. Open. What has been encouraging is that she has played lots of very good tennis and hopefully the wrist injury that blighted the first half of the season will heal fully and she can have a good 2023.
Krejcikova was also badly affected by an elbow injury from around February until October. She began the season well making a final in Sydney and the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, but until taking the titles in Tallinn and Ostrava, it’s been a year to forget in singles for Krejcikova. However, three Grand Slam, doubles titles with Siniakova was a fantastic achievement. The pair winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open was a real highlight. Following them in Guadalajara and at the Year End Championship will end my WTA tennis watching season.
The very last event will be the Billie Jean King cup finals taking place in Glasgow. Krejcikova and Siniakova are a big part of the Czech team which also includes Karolina Pliskova and Marketa Vondrousova.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.