Maria Sharapova vs Petra Kvitova 2012 AO SF Highlights

[willybeama1]

Kvitova's return is beastly. It's better than Serena's I think.

[QuadThreat85]

@willybeama1 not sure about that one...maybe on a more consistent basis, but Serena's got the edge in mph...she's hit a few in the mid to upper 90's.

[falks941]

@QuadThreat85 i agree with the mph thing. But I think Kvitova has a better return of serve than Serena because of the consistency of it. She's notorious for the number of return winners she hits. But I think you're right too, Serena's return is faster than Kvitova's.

[carrieb1986]

Kvitova has more power than Sharapova but Kvitova throws in more junk balls in the mix.

[tildeloltilde]

Kvitova usually good at breaking serve... and I hate that Maria now says "Come on!" when opponent makes an error. The entire third set she does a fist pump when she hits a winner, but screams COME ON!!! when Petra hits it out? We don't need another Ivanovic in that category...

[caninemeg]

@tildeloltilde and kvitova does that really annoying bark thing after every point she wins, sotheir evenareb't they

[theirland]

6 Grand Slams to finals for Sharapova. Pity, she could ´t win this AO.

[corelma64]

I think this was a hard match, Maria started pretty well but then Petra Woke up , on the 3rd set there were nervious and Petra had the advantage but Maria Fought every point and that was the key.About the final like everyone else. I think it wasn't Maria's day & Vika played to well, if Maria would've been at her 100 % the match would've been better. Maria is one of the Toughest players, she can beat almost anyone.I read someone who said that she will never win a GS, she has won 3 & more to come

[RuthlessFerocity]

KVITOVA LED IN THE THIRD SET AND THEN UNRAVELLED

[StewNWT]

Great match. The women's semis on this day were terrific. Maria fought like hell she was constantly under pressure on her serve.

Biggest disappointment of the day was Clijsters 21/44 UFEs all in the 3rd set. Played that amazing break back game then dumped serve like a chump. 

[ciaranselva20]

kvitova lost it sharapova took advantage of kvitova stupid errors on her break points,kvitova is a better player than both maria and azarenka,im almost certain she would of beaten vika had she got to the final,she won 3 important meeting last year vs vika and in wimbledon twice

[simoncito7777]

@ciaranselva20 but she lost

[arifsharp]

@ciaranselva20 Well I was kinda disappoint with Petra too, I was started believing in her and started becoming her fan but she lost two matches that change my mind about her, the match between her and Li Na in Sydney 2012 SF and this match, she is inconsistent horribly sometimes and her playing style is too risky, she needs to start using some top spin to have less number of errors.she is awesome player no doubt, she would have won Australian Open had she got to the final such a disappointment.

[fencer11793]

Sharapova's fight in this was extremely admirable. Just wish she had displayed some of it in the final.

[MrAntmc]

kvitova just couldnt convert a break point in the 3rd set

[Bhraihh]

Maria's game wasn't there at the finals. It's like she repeated her AO '07 run, doin' great till the Semis and losing handily to Serena at the finals. WTH, I had mood swings after she lost.

[iamnewhYbrid]

the only reason why i watch tennis, maria sharapova is fucking gorgeous

[saravoxy]

Pretty good match by both. Kvitova looked stronger in the third set, but you can never count Sharapova out. Her mental toughness pulled her through yet again. As far Sharapova vs Azarenka, Sharapova's game doesn't match up well against Azarenka's. Sharapova hits big, but is not able to hit Azarenka off the court which Serena or Kvitova can do. Azarenka's game doesn't match up well to Kim's and Li Na's who move better and hit bigger than her, but she beat them both in consecutive tournaments.

[JamieOwen05]

Maria wasn't even in the top 10 favs before the tournament i believe. The achievement of a shock final was great and although i would have loved for her to win it i wasn't TOO gutted *although still gutted* that she lost, it was a great achievement considering i was expecting a 3rd round or 4th round loss due to lack of play from the end of last year and none before the AO.

[wozniacki15]

kvitova pretty much lost this match sharapova didnt really have to do anything special but be consistent and petra really let this one slip away the telling statistic break points converted: kvitova: 3/14 sharapova: 5/5

[DunklenHerzen]

Kvitova reminds me so much of Davenport.....just a left handed version with a bark. The key to beating her is to move her around and hit behind her. Drop shots work too.

[DunklenHerzen]

@DunklenHerzen

Plus she should have won this match. Either way I feel she still would have lost to Azarenka because I think it was just Azarenka's time. Azarenka was hitting so well and she's the quickest of the current top three.

[kimskis]

Maria only played well in the first set here...after that it was a major scrap for both and Maria's superior consistency off the ground prevailed in the end. Maria actually played her best tennis at the start of the tournament here - her form was regularly going downhill and the final was simply an embarrassment for her

[abercro800]

@kimskis i was an avid fan of sharapova UNTIL the final! i could understand if she lost simply by being outplayed but i looked at the match statistics and they both had the same winners 14 but the KEY difference was sharapova had 30 unforced errors compared to azarenka's 12. she will never win a slam! she gets flat on the big occasions

[wozniacki15]

@abercro800 no she was outplayed in that match azarenka matched her power and those UES she made were mindless but some came because azarenka put her on the defense and sharapova made errors being stretched out wide. azarenka was taking the ball earlier and that caused maria to mistime a lot of her shots, point being marias bad play was caused by azarenkas great play

[kimskis]

@wozniacki15

Azarenka just took advantage of her errors and sloppy footwork, like many of grinders did in the past already (Wozniacki being on of them). When Maria 's game is clicking, there is no player who can match her from the baseline - the depth and precision of her strokes is too much for female players to handle

[wozniacki15]

@kimskis i beg to differ azarenka serena venus just to name a few can bang with maria, marias footwork wasnt sloppy in that match at all azarenka was up on the baseline taking the ball early and moving maria around its pretty evident in that final maria got beat from the baseline azarenka had what one less winner and sharapova had heaps of errors because azarenka robbed time away from her and she mistimed her shots

[wozniacki15]

@kimskis and to add on azarenka is just as precise with her shots as well as her MOVEMENT which is why she won she can do more with her game while maria doesnt have a plan b or doesnt change the pace on her shots

[ogi81094]

@wozniacki15 Yeah Azarenka played good, but that is easily the worst final played. Also UNFORCED errors are mistakes made by the player unnecessarily. They are not FORCED errors which are counted seperately. Yeah Vika made her hit errors but that doesn't mean anything when she hit 30 wild ones for no reason other than she was just playing shit that day. Anyways its a massive result for Maria and even her diehards wouldn't have predicted it. I'm sure they'll both have a great 2012.

[craydre]

@abercro800 More like you were a bandwagon fan lmao

[aksarora]

@abercro800 Flat on big occasions my ASS ! This is a player who won Wimbeldon when she was 17. Lol.

[chrisak49]

Kvitova's game is pretty easy to beat. She likes the balls hit to her hard and flatter or with a little topspin. If you give her a high ball she is all out of her element. So either moon ball her or use lots of topspin.

[Paglia444]

It's a mistake for Kvitova to use touch.

[mssheltn1]

This was a very very good win for Sharapova and she played excellent. I'm not a Sharapova fan but I'm quite surprise that there are no other comments on here supporting her.