Her Big Break

by Craig Hickman


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The look of a broken player.

Serving down a break at 2-4 in the second set, Petra Kvitova faced break point. She swung her huge lefty serve into her opponent's backhand, and seemed surprised the ball came back. After all, for much of the match, her opponent wasn't handling that serve well at all. The surprising return led to an exchange that I described as the point of the tournament. The Wimbledon semifinal ingenue prevailed with a stinging volley winner.

Both players were whipped. Chests heaving, both let the crowd's extended applause wash over them. The longer it lasted, the better.

Petra fired another great second serve that came back with interest. The warriors were at it again. This time, Petra tried to end the point with a backhand crosscourt acute angle winner that landed half a foot wide.

She barked.

Despite her deceptively efficient movement and excellent anticipation, she doesn't yet appear fit enough for the long haul. Still fatigued from saving that break point, she tossed in a double fault.

It took the better part of two tight sets with enthralling tennis sans melodrama for Serena Williams to finally break the will of her opponent. After the changeover, the defending champion would serve for the match.

Soon as her second serve hit the tape, Petra dropped her racquet, her shattered determination captured in the photo above.

What a match.

Best thing I heard by any commentator during it came from Lindsay Davenport.

"Serena doesn't get enough credit for her strategy," said the Wimbledon champion and former world No. 1. "She's definitely a thinking player out there."

And so when Serena stopped attempting outright winners on her service returns and started striking them high and deep, she pushed Petra back, forcing errors instead of giving away points.

An adjustment that made all the difference.

Petra had no deep-Slam experience to rely upon, but her exquisite serve, raw talent and gutsy fight are a breath of fresh air on a tour populated with serveless top-10 players who fold at the first hint of success.

Petra did no such thing. She had to rally from a set down and save match points just to get here. No. Serena had to break her will in order to win. She broke it with her tennis.

Her name alone wasn't going to be nearly enough.

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