Tennis Panorama Archives

Archives of TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013

TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013
  • Home
  • Tennis Panorama
You are here: Home / Contributors / Kvitova defeats Gibbs in New Haven

Kvitova defeats Gibbs in New Haven

August 23, 2012 By Tennis Panorama News

 

By Jack Cunniff

New Haven Open – Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Summary of Wednesday evening second round action at the Connecticut Tennis Center in New Haven:

 

Second Round: (2) Petra Kvitova def. Nicole Gibbs, 6-2, 6-4

 

The tale of the tape in this match looked like a blowout: world No. 5 Kvitova against No. 312 Gibbs. But while the final result was never really in doubt, the reigning NCAA singles and doubles champion Gibbs was able to put up a fight.

 

Gibbs stayed even in the first set until a long service game at 2-3. She dodged three break points from the former Wimbledon titlist, until Kvitova smacked a backhand return of serve crosscourt on the fourth break point to gain a 4-2 advantage. Kvitova went on a streak, winning six of seven games to lead 6-2, 4-1. Suddenly, as is often the case with Kvitova, she went away long enough for Gibbs to catch up. At 4-4 in the second, Kvitova hit three winners and a 100mph ace to regain the lead and put the pressure back on the American. In another long game, Gibbs was able to move beautifully around the court to hold off three match points, but the power of Kvitova was too much in the end. Kvitova advances to her fifth consecutive quarterfinal appearance, 6-2, 6-4.

 

In the short-term, both Kvitova and Gibbs will be headed to Flushing Meadow to play in the 2012 U.S. Open, but their paths diverge from there. Gibbs plans to return to Stanford for her junior year, although she intends to try to play some professional events, while balancing a full class load. Kvitova, meanwhile, has titles to defend in Linz, Austria, the Tour Championships in Istanbul, and leading the Czech Fed Cup team at home against Serbia in the finals.

 

Around the Grounds – Wednesday August 22nd:

Nicole Gibbs on the quality of college tennis: “I would say at the top level of college tennis, there are a lot of similarities. Otherwise I don’t think I could compete as well at the professional level. It’s definitely a great training ground for the playing professionally just because of the quantity of matches that you get in, and you’re playing back to back, you learn how to get your fitness up. There are definitely differences, playing Kvitova is different than playing any girl on the college tour, but I think it’s been very valuable for me to train at the college level.”… Both players who won the 2012 U.S. Open National Playoff at the Connecticut Tennis Center this weekend lost in the opening round of U.S. Open Qualifying Wednesday. Alexandra Mueller of the United States fell to Beatriz Garcia Vidagany of Spain, 7-5, 6-4, and Clement Reix of France was eliminated by Japan’s Hiroki Moriya, 6-1, 6-3… Time to rethink marketing dollars? When asked about her chances to clinch the U.S. Open Series title with her New Haven result, Petra Kvitova responded, “I’m not caring really about the U.S. Open Series, I’m just looking at the next match.”… Rivalry renewed: The quarterfinal pairing between No. 3 seed Caroline Wozniacki and No. 6 seed Dominika Cibulkova will mark the eleventh time that the two have met, including two other encounters in New Haven, both won by Wozniacki. While the four-time defending champion Wozniacki leads the head-to-head by a 7-3 margin, the last four matches have been split evenly between the two.

Jack Cunniff is covering the New Haven Open for Tennis Panorama News. Follow his updates on twitter @TennisNewsTPN. His personal twitter is @JRCunniff.

Filed Under: Contributors, Features, Front Page News, news conference, tennis news, tournament coverage, tournaments Tagged With: Jack Cunniff, New Haven Open, Nicole Gibbs, Petra Kvitova

Archives

  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • March 2009
  • December 2008

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in