Wimbledon 2012 Update: Serena Knocks Off Defending Champ Kvitova to Storm Into Semis
July 3, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg
Serena Williams reached her eighth Wimbledon semifinal with her 6-3, 7-5 win over defending champion Petra Kvitova. Kvitova was on an 11-match winning streak at Wimbledon and had not lost at the All England Lawn Tennis Center since Serena beat her in the 2010 semifinals en route to her fourth title.
"It feels like a good win," Serena said. "I don’t know if it was about dethroning the champion or just going out there and doing the best that I could. You can’t play a defending Wimbledon champion or Grand Slam champion and not elevate your game. I had to weed out the riffraff and get serious."
The American four-time Wimbledon champion seized control by breaking Kvitova for a 4-2 lead in the first set and then never gave her opponent a chance to get back in the match. Williams saved a set point when trailing 5-4 in the second with a hard serve down the middle that Kvitova could not return successfully. That was the only break point the defending champion earned, as Williams won 86 percent of the points on her first serve. One of Williams’s best advantages in her game is her serve. Kvitova then led 30-0 in the next game but made four straight mistakes. Unforced errors shut down Kvitova. She netted an easy forehand on break point to give Williams the opening she needed to win.
Serena awaits the winner of the match between number two seed Victoria Azarenka and Tamira Paszek.
