Petra Kvitova swatted aside the challenge of Naomi Broady during a comprehensive 6-2 6-2 victory in the last 16 to underline her status as the favorite to win the Aegon Classic. Every part of the Czech’s game was working well as she served accurately, hit deep groundstrokes to all parts of the court consistently throughout and moved forward expertly to finish points when the opportunity arose.

Broady was certainly impressed. She said, “Petra’s obviously one of the best grass court players. She’s won Wimbledon twice so I knew it was going to be a really tough match. It’s not necessarily her power that is so difficult; it’s just her placement of the ball. Any short or slightly softer ball that I hit, she just nailed into the corner and I had no chance to get to it. She’s definitely someone I’m going to watch and try and learn from because she makes you so uncomfortable on the court and you really struggle to know where to hit it to not give her a winning shot.”

Kvitova, however, still felt there were plenty of improvements to make in her game. She said, “I think I played a solid match, but I still think I have some things that I can improve, which is always good. I'm still not playing as well as I probably could, but it always takes some time and it will come with (more) practices and matches.”

She continued, “I feel the first serve should be a little bit better placed. I don't think I am moving badly, which is a good sign as (it means) I can be there on time and have good timing with the shots. But I think some of the easy shots I can still play a little bit better. And when (my opponent) is putting the pressure on me, I need to be more ready.”

Broady made an excellent start to the match with a love hold in the opening game, then another good hold the next time she served, and looked on course for a third comfortable hold when she hit two aces and another unreturnable serve to go up 40-0. However, Kvitova hit a superb backhand to win one point, then an even deeper return to win another, before unleashing a huge forehand to take it to deuce. The Brit then made two unforced errors to hand the Czech her first break and she never looked back.

After a routine love hold, Kvitova stepped up her aggression against Broady’s serve. She hit a massive forehand return that flew past the Brit before she could blink. Then she maneuvered Broady around the court to earn 0-40 and three break points. The Brit saved one with an excellent second serve, then another by forcing an error. However, the match was then interrupted briefly by a spectator taking a tumble, and Broady made an error on the next point to surrender the double break. Kvitova served out the set to love for a 6-2 scoreline.

The second set followed exactly the same pattern, although Broady had a few more chances on the Kvitova serve. In the second game of the set, she missed three makeable backhand returns and berated herself for the errors. Then, two games later, she wasted one good chance to hit a forehand winner after setting up the opportunity with a deep return, then another two points later. The first break of the set once again came in the fifth game. The Brit made a double fault and an error on her way to 0-40 down and then saved the first break point with two superb backhands that set up an easy forehand winner. She saved the second with a forehand winner and the third with an ace but double-faulted when she conceded a fourth break point.

Kvitova turned on the style in the final three games, playing one gorgeous disguised backhand slice, then two delicate half-volleys during consecutive love holds. In between, two double faults from Broady on serve contributed to an easy break for the Czech as she sealed a very comfortable win.

It is the kind of victory that makes viewers think a player is a very strong bet to win the tournament, but Kvitova herself is not thinking that way. She said, “I'm not worried about that. I never have high expectations anyway. I'm just taking it day by day and match by match, and I know that I need more matches so I'm not setting any goals.”

However, the Czech is pleased with how she is performing. She said, “I always love playing on grass. When I started playing tournaments on the surface, I always felt weird and it took me some time to get used to the movement and everything else. But here, I just came and played well from the first practice which I had. So, I don't know what (the secret is), but I'm happy for that.”