What's Next? WTA No. 8, Petra Kvitova

Our What's Next? series looks at every player who finished in the ATP or WTA Top 10 this season, and considers their future in three different ways.

It seems like a very long time ago, in a tennis galaxy far far away, but as 2012 began, the consensus among WTA observers that Kvitova, who had won Wimbledon and the WTA Championships the year before, was the immediate future of women’s tennis. It didn’t work out that way; instead of ascending to her rightful place at No. 1, the power-hitting Czech failed to reach a Grand Slam final and finished the year at No. 8. What should we think of her future now? At times, her ground strokes, and her game, will be untouchable; at other times, she’ll be barely be able to touch them down in the court. And unless something changes drastically in her tactics and mindset, we won’t know from day to the next which of those Kvitovas we’re going to get.

Best Case Scenario: Kvitova’s strongest backers spoke too soon at the end of 2012. But there was a reason for our enthusiasm. When she’s clicking, she can take over a match against anyone other than Serena Williams. Having hoisted the Wimbledon winner’s plate, she knows that she can, and should, win Grand Slams. Those expectations haven’t gone away, which means no one would be surprised to see her do it again, most likely at the Australian Open or back on Centre Court.

Worst Case Scenario: Going strictly by the numbers, Kvitova is not trending well. She finished 2011 at No. 2, seemingly with a ticket for the top spot; she finished 2012 at No. 8. Worse for her is that the WTA’s immediate future really did appear to announce itself last season; it consisted of Victoria Azarenka, Serena, and Maria Sharapova, but not her. She’ll be the underdog against any of those three in 2013.

Australian Open Outlook: Two years ago, Kvitova looked ready to make a breakthrough in Melbourne. Then she took a nosedive against Vera Zvonareva in the quarters. Last year she looked ready to the do the same thing. Then she was out-smarted by Sharapova in the semifinals. The sky is the limit for Kvitova on the slow hard courts Down Under, but getting there, one match at a time, for two weeks, will always be a rollercoaster ride for her.

More What's Next?

**- ATP No. 10, Richard Gasquet

- WTA No. 10, Caroline Wozniacki<em>*  

- ATP No. 9, Janko Tipsarevic
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*- ATP No. 8, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

- WTA No. 8, Petra Kvitova**  

- ATP No. 7, Juan Martin del Potro
- WTA No. 7, Li Na
- ATP No. 6, Tomas Berdych
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