After a routine and clinical performance in her opener Tuesday, Petra Kvitova continues her Aegon Classic Birmingham campaign as she meets another powerful player, 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko across the net. The Czech will seek to do revenge after succumbing to the Latvian in three sets in their only prior meeting so far at the Qatar Total Open in Doha four months ago.

Lead-up

Kvitova plays a backhand in her opening round clash. Photo credit: Steve Bardens/Getty Images.
Kvitova plays a backhand in her opening round clash. Photo credit: Steve Bardens/Getty Images.

All eyes were on the double Wimbledon champion Kvitova to see how she would kick off her 2016 grass court season after having not played a single Wimbledon warm-up event last year. The Czech was initially slated to play Japanese lefty Misaki Doi in the first round but the withdrawal of Simona Halep saw the Czech moved to replace the Romanian’s spot in the draw.

She cleared hanging doubts by seeing off fellow Czech Lucie Safarova, dismantling her compatriot with the loss of just five games. The most impressive stat from Kvitova was that she only dropped six points behind her first serve out of 36 first serve points.

Ostapenko will look to exploit her powerful game in this upcoming match. Photo credit: Jan Kruger/Getty Images.
Ostapenko will look to exploit her powerful game in this upcoming match. Photo credit: Jan Kruger/Getty Images.

World number 38 Ostapenko is the youngest player in the Birmingham draw. The teenager’s season of 2016 so far has seen her reach the final in Doha, the semifinals in Katowice and the round of 16 in Rome.

Going up against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her opening match, the Latvian came out on top in the first set tiebreak before seeing off her opponent with the loss of just one more game. After a disappointing second round exit in s-Hertogenbosch last week, Ostapenko will seek to go one round better this time and secure her berth in the last eight.

Head-to-head

The Ostapenko-Kvitova head-to-head as displayed on WTA's website.
The Ostapenko-Kvitova head-to-head as displayed on WTA's website.

Both women clashed in the round of 16 in Doha. In that match, Kvitova narrowly secured the opening set but failed to capitalise on that lead, losing the plot henceforth and winning just three more games with Ostapenko eventually prevailing 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

Analysis

Ostapenko and grass have history. It was at the Wimbledon Championships last year where she made her Grand Slam main draw debut and notched her  first Grand Slam main draw win, upsetting Carla Suárez Navarro in the opening round in straight sets.

Moreover, in 2014, she was crowned junior Wimbledon champion. These accolades prove that the Latvian should not be taken for granted on this surface. She would need to execute her A-game against Kvitova who will hungry for revenge.

Kvitova, aware of the threat the Latvian poses must play clean first strike tennis and not open any chance for her opponent to take control of the rallies with her powerful groundstrokes. The match will come down to who is able to step in and dominate the point better and outhit the other.

Ostapenko would want to make this a competitive match and not go down without a fight but Kvitova, with her mind set on avenging that Doha loss should overpower Ostapenko in three sets and advance to her first quarterfinal in Birmingham, her third of 2016.

Prediction: Petra Kvitova in three sets