Petra Kvitova, 20, is back in the spotlight.
Impressive at Wimbledon last year, when she reached her
first Grand Slam semi-final by playing some great lefty tennis, she had been unable
to follow it up.
But already this year she has won in Brisbane and reached
the quarters at the Australian Open, succeeding along the way in maintaining a
high level of play - what we have been awaiting for the past two years.
This player has huge potential. Tall, lefty, with a big first
serve and an amazing forehand, Petra has also lost weight over the past year
and is now moving better and is more solid.
Andrea Petkovic,
the German, has also improved greatly over the past 12 months (she was ranked 315th
in 2008) and has enjoyed a successful start of the season.
She went all the way to the final in Brisbane before
reaching the quarters in Melbourne, beating Maria Sharapova on her way.
She is a great athlete who can maintain intensity during a
point and who can also call on a big serve.
She can still improve a great deal, even more so because of
her strong mentality and the way she's totally determined.
She has already improved her backhand and is now playing
better with the angles of the court.
But her game at the net, the way she should take the ball
earlier and her volleying game still need a bit of work.
Bojana Jovanovski,
19, continues to show how strong she is. In Australia, she played a great match
against Vera Zvonareva in the second round, losing in three sets but not
without causing a big scare to the world number two.
The Russian, unable to keep the pace in front of the
Serbian's power and early take of ball, was pushed to her limits. Her
experience finally helped her through by tiring out the young Bojanovski.
We also have to notice Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova's improvement.
The 19-year-old is now 14th in the world. While still not
yet entirely fit, she's becoming more mature and is continuing her rise.
She has a complete game, with a great striking ability and
barely no flaws. Her potential is huge and she got everything it takes to become
a top five player.
Her results are taking her along the right path, even if her
run to the top has slowed down a bit over the last year and a half (she was ranked
27th in March 2009).
But her results are beginning to show more consistency and
people should be able to count on her as early as this season.