The first week of 2011 saw two unlikely winners as Petra Kvitova and Greta Arn were victorious in Brisbane and Auckland respectively. Petra Kvitova has shown her potential before, most notably her semi-final run at Wimbledon last year; however her game has been blighted with inconsistency. This week though, everything fell into place as she attacked her way to the title with a blistering 6-1 6-3 final victory over Andrea Petkovic. Petkovic herself had a superb week and demonstrated the improvements she has made in the off-season, looking both fitter and stronger as she defeated Marion Bartoli in a superbly clinical semi-final win. However she faltered in the final to Kvitova who if she continues playing at this level, should be considered as a dark horse for the Australian Open.
Greta Arn claimed the second title of her career as she shocked the number 1 seed Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets, 6-3 6-3. Arn had already knocked out Maria Sharapova and Julia Goerges in the previous rounds before upsetting Wickmayer to move into the top 70 in the rankings wiht this win. It was a disappointing end to what had been a strong week by Wickmayer who had shown some battling qualities with 3-set wins over Dinara Safina, Sabine Lisicki and Shaui Peng. Many consider her as a dark horse for the Australian Open; however i cannot see her being strong enough both physically and mentally to deal with the top players in the draw.
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