We have found a little grass court form ahead of Wimbledon which clubgowi will be covering daily from Round 2 and you can find today's notes below, both Kvitova and Ostapenko won in two sets.

 

You can get all that Wimbledon content for free , along with all our other June and July previews, just sign up for an already reduced price 6 or 12 month subscription and get the extra (up to) 37 days free, sub will run until Jan 31 or July 31, great value!

 

Email for details.

 

 

 

On Tuesday I touched upon how good Kvitova had been on grass, but also wondered how much longer we would see her at an elite level .........Petra Kvitova is a clubgowi favourite and we backed her outright both years in which she won Wimbledon and where, in addition to those two titles, she was a five time quarter finalist, but the last of those was in 2014 ( which seems incredible!). She is also a very decent 9-4 at Eastbourne, but has not played on these courts in four years. I keep thinking her career is winding down and then she will go on a run somewhere, but to be honest, her loss in her first match in Madrid, pre Roland Garros, was a real concern, it was a tough match up, but she loves it there, where she is a three time winner and six time quarter finalist, she has been a great champion, but I do wonder how much is left in the tank ?

 

Well this is one those "runs" and she is in the 74th semi final of her career, she has won 48 of those and is 30-8 in that category versus opponents ranked 21+ , in grass court semis she is 5-2 with the two defeats coming against fellow Wimbledon champions.

 

Beatriz Haddad Maia is on one of the most amazing runs I can recall and is looking for a third straight grass court title in a row after winning both Nottingham and Birmingham, so hoping for a 14th straight win on the surface today! I say" incredible" as not only is that a terrific record, but she had no real form on grass prior to that and had failed to qualify for Wimbledon three times and here at Eastbourne and Nottingham on her only previous visits!

 

She beat Kvitova 7-6 6-2 in the first round in Birmingham, but the Czech star had only just arrived from Paris and BHM had alreadywon in Nottingham and today will be more of a test and the Brazilian must be tired, she has played six three set matches and also had a lot go her way, with three retirements and met four ranked #114 plus. Of course , you can only beat who you are asked to play, but today she is facing grass court royalty and in a match which matters to Kvitova and she will not be as rusty as in Birmingham where she made a lot of unforced errors and her serve was not firing.

 

This is, (also)incredibly Maia's 104th match of the last 12 months and not sure if someone ranked top 50 has ever played that much and we certainly cannot fault her work ethic , she has risen from #188 to circa #20 , but this is a gulf in class if Petra is even at 80% of her ability and that is highlighted by their respective record versus fellow lefties (both are left handed players).

 

Maia is 34-22 v lefties, 1-3 versus those ranked top 50.

Kvitova a respective 53-22 and 35-15 .

 

PK's serving woes appear behind her and with not as many free points for Maia today, she should win and restore some sanity to the grass court season!

 

 

 

 

In midweek I wrote .....Camila Giorgi has made a good career for herself despite having a train wreck of a father/coach and likes the surface and courts here in Eastbourne, she is looking for grass win #50 today and is defending a lot of points having made the semi final here12 months ago when she was forced to withdraw in the first set at 4-5 (on serve I think). She is 20-5 on grass versus players ranked 101+ like her Canadian opponent and this will be her 6th start on the surface since a run to the last 16 at Roland Garros and she should be close to peak surface fitness. 

 

She has indeed made it to the last four to protect her ranking points, Giorgi is 8-7 on the surface versus players ranked top 20 with five of her last six wins in that category all coming in three sets and she is also 4-2 here at Eastbourne against those "elite" opponents, with both losses coming v Caroline Wozniacki .

 

Jelena Ostapenko is fun to watch , she almost always goes for all her shots and is top 10 ability when it all falls into place and her second serve holds up. She was ranked as high as #5 in 2018 and at the time was French Open champion and had just made the final in Miami, but it was a struggle after that, 18 months later she was in danger of falling out of the top 100, but has regrouped, returned to the top 20 with her win in Dubai earlier this year . It was a tough clay court season for her, but might well turn out to be a blessing in disguise as it gave time to adapt to grass and she is defending here title here at Eastbourne, a tournament which must have special memories and some people just love it on the South Coast where the players can wander around town without being harassed or noticed much at all . Last year she beat Pavlyuchenkova, Jabeur, Kasatkina, Rybakina and Kontaveit, two of the current top 3 and four top 20 players and that looks exceptional on her CV. The Latvian has won eight matches in a row on these courts, the last six without dropping a set . Ostapenko is on a run of 8-6 in semi finals, with the six losses coming to four former world number 1's and Kontaveit (current #2) and JO beat her in the final here last year 3&3, so only the cream of the WTA tour beat her at this stage and even then, not on these courts!. Ostapenko in two sets.

 

 

 

Good luck !