Is Petra Kvitova below the radar for the French Open title? One of our staff writers seems to think so ahead of her fourth round match against Na Li.
Petra Kvitova, the ninth seed at the 2011 French Open, first announced herself as a major player on tour at about this time last season when she made the semifinals of Wimbledon 2010. In that tournament Kvitova went through both Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka in the middle rounds, a tough draw that few players would have survived.
Kvitova is currently only ranked ninth in the world, however at this year's French Open she looks like the most dangerous player remaining in the draw.
Through the first three rounds of the French Open, Kvitova, who won WTA Madrid earlier this month, has not dropped a set and she's a little below the radar for the title. She is coming in as the fourth favorite with most sportsbooks (
ie. Boylesports) but what reason is there to believe that she isn't the first favorite at this point? With Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, and Vera Zvonareva all out of the tournament the conditions are great for a lower seeded player to win the title this season.
Next up for Kvitova is China's Na Li, a player that the Czech trumped in 16 games earlier this month in Madrid. After that Kvitova can play no one better than Victoria Azarenka, another player that the world number nine has a recent clay court straight sets victory over.
Kvitova's semifinal opponent looks tough to predict however Maria Sharapova is a promising prospect and while the Russian is playing well right now let's not forget that she almost went out in the early rounds. Her tendency to make unforced errors hardly make her a lock to make the final at the French Open and you have to have more confidence in Kvitova's steady game.
On the other side of the draw only Schiavone, 30 years old, is considered to be a heavier favorite at this point but you have to wonder if the defending champ is going to run out of gas soon against the younger competition.
Kvitova, a six footer, is still just 21 years old and she has really improved in the last year. The Wimbledon run to the semis was a major alarm bell that she was a special player especially since her draw was difficult in the tournament.
It's surprising that no one is talking about the Czech player winning the French Open after her very recent title in the Premier Mandatory WTA Madrid event where she went 12-1 in sets played and faced just one tiebreaker.
Kvitova, my prediction to win the 2011 French Open, looks like the most promising candidate to replace Caroline Wozniacki on the top of the women's tour in the longer term.
