Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 7, 2023 Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova reacts during her second round match against Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
LONDON (Reuters) - Twice former champion Petra Kvitova cruised into the third round at Wimbledon on Friday, the ninth seed brushing aside the limited challenge of Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2 6-2 on a sun-drenched Court Two.
The 33-year-old Czech, who triumphed in 2011 and 2014, has got past the third round only once since her second victory but did not need to be anywhere near her best in a match full of errors, most of them from Sasnovich, who has never gone beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam in 10 years of trying.
Kvitova warmed up for Wimbledon with a grasscourt title in Berlin and though they traded early breaks, the Czech always looked to be on top and broke for 4-2, with Sasnovich dropping serve again, finishing with a double fault, to lose the first set.
The Belarusian, sporting full length white leggings, briefly perked up to break for 1-1 in the second but it did not last as the error count remained high in the face of Kvitova’s deep and accurate groundstrokes and the favourite cruised home in 74 minutes.
"It’s always difficult to play her, always a battle, and I’m happy that somehow I found a way and I’m through," said Kvitova, who his the fifth-highest earning female player with almost 37 million dollars banked.
"I really enjoyed the it. You never know how long you can play but I wish it never ends – all the support is always amazing.”
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ed Osmond)
