Wimbledon

Brilliant Kvitova sweeps to second Wimbledon crown

ESPN staff

July 5, 2014

Petra Kvitova was unstoppable on Centre Court, beating Eugenie Bouchard 6-3 6-0 © Getty Images

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A dominant performance from Petra Kvitova swept her to a second Wimbledon ladies' title with a straight sets victory over Eugenie Bouchard on Centre Court.

Kvitova added to her 2011 success at Wimbledon by outclassing her Canadian opponent, who was featuring in a grand slam final for the first time in only her sixth such tournament.

Despite being broken for the first time at this year's tournament during the first set, Kvitova eased to a 6-3 6-0 victory in just 55 minutes.

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At 24, Kvitova becomes just the fourth multiple Wimbledon ladies winner since the year of her birth, 1990, joining Steffi Graf and Venus and Serena Williams.

"I had great tactics from my coach. All my team helped me a lot over the years to come back here and collect the trophy," said Kvitova, whose voice cracked as she was interviewed on Centre Court.

"I can't say that it's more special, but after three years to stand here with the trophy again is amazing." She also wished her father happy birthday in Czech - he celebrates it on Sunday having been in attendance for the final.

Bouchard appeared nervous in the pre-match formalities, skipping from foot to foot and swiping practice swings during the coin toss. On the other side of the net, Kvitova maintained a steely focus that continued in the early part of the match.

She broke Bouchard in the 20-year-old's second service game, and again to lead 5-2. However, it was at that point that Bouchard bit back, breaking Kvitova for the first time this fortnight to move to 5-3 in the set.

Unperturbed, Kvitova swept to the set shortly after, breaking Bouchard for a third time in the set to take it 6-3 in 32 minutes. The Centre Court crowd's response was not exactly rapturous - perhaps fearing that the match they had all come to see would be over all too soon.

It went from bad to worse for Bouchard in the second set. She was broken in the second and fourth games of the set and in the blink of an eye, Kvitova was 5-0 up. Bouchard faced the change of ends knowing she had to hold serve for the first time in five attempts to stave off defeat.

She failed to do so, and Kvitova fell to the turf, possibly in disbelief at just how quickly her dream had been realised. Bizarrely, the players then left the court after the final while the roof was closed before the trophy presentation as rain - which threatened throughout the match - finally arrived.

Roof closed, Kvitova could be presented with the trophy. Nothing - her opponent or the inclement weather - was going to rain on her parade.