Clinical Kvitova brushes aside Broady
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova put in an ominous display in disposing of Naomi Broady at the Aegon Classic on Wednesday.
Petra Kvitova's pre-Wimbledon preparations gathered pace as she ruthlessly swatted aside Naomi Broady in the second round of the Aegon Classic.
After defeating Tereza Smitkova on Tuesday, Kvitova spoke of her relief at getting back to tennis following the media scrutiny surrounding her return to action at the French Open after she was the victim of a knife attack in her home in December.
And the two-time Wimbledon champion was in ominous form on Wednesday against home hope Broady in Birmingham, romping to a 6-2 6-2 success and a place in the quarter-finals.
Broady was first broken in the fifth game of the opening set, despite having been 40-0 up, and a booming forehand from Kvitova secured a second break for 5-2.
Successive aces saw her wrap up a first set in which she lost just one point on serve.
At 2-2 in the second, Broady saved three break points - the last with an ace - but Kvitova forced a fourth and this time the Brit's serve let her down as she double-faulted.
Another double-fault for a second break was a sign of Broady's dwindling confidence and Kvitova's massive ace down the middle provided a fitting finish to a dominant performance.
"She is a tricky opponent, especially on grass, she has a big serve and it was about waiting for a chance to break her," Kvitova said.
"So far I'm working pretty well, I still have a lot of things to improve which is good news of course and I'm trying to play my best. It was a dream to play again and have more matches and it's great preparation for Wimbledon."
There will be no third final in four years for Barbora Strycova after the 2014 and 2016 runner-up went down 6-3 3-6 6-1 to Ashleigh Barty.
Meanwhile, ninth seed Daria Gavrilova prevailed 7-5 2-6 6-4 in a topsy-turvy meeting with Katerina Siniakova. That win set up a quarter-final against Lucie Safarova.