MELBOURNE, Australia — It took Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion at the top of her game, to bring a very abrupt ending to Amanda Anisimova’s run of upsets at the Australian Open.
Kvitova, 28, wanted no part of another loss to the 17-year-old Anisimova, who beat her last year in Indian Wells, Calif., and then became the youngest American since Jennifer Capriati in 1993 to make it to the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
The eighth-seeded Kvitova needed 59 minutes to secure a 6-2, 6-1 win on Sunday. Kvitova was the model of consistency, unlike the two seeded players vanquished by Anisimova — No. 24 Lesia Tsurenko and No. 11 Aryna Sabalenka.
Kvitova broke Anisimova’s serve five times — including in the opening game — and never faced a break point. She got 86 percent of her first serves into play and won all but five of the points when she did.
She has now won nine consecutive matches and reached the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time since 2012.
Up next will be Ashleigh Barty, the Australian great hope.
Kvitova had to miss the Australian Open in 2017 as she recovered from injuries to her left hand sustained in a break-in the previous month at her home in the Czech Republic. She lost in the first round here last year.
Anisimova had beaten her, 6-2, 6-4, in 70 minutes in their only previous meeting, but Kvitova came out ready this time.
She took the first three points of the match, putting Anisimova under pressure. The teenager saved two of three break points, but Kvitova’s powerful backhand service return had her scrambling, and the first game was gone.
Anisimova won the first two points on Kvitova’s serve, but Kvitova responded by winning the next four to hold.
A double-fault gave Kvitova three break points in the next game, and she forced an error on the backhand side to convert for a 3-0 lead.
Anisimova was still taking big swings at the ball and hitting cleanly, but the left-handed Kvitova was consistently in the right place to hit winners — including two important forehands down the line.
The first set was over in 32 minutes, and Anisimova could only shrug, as if asking what was happening.
Anisimova held serve to open the second set. She was still in the contest in the fifth game, one point from holding again, but Kvitova won 10 straight points to take the match away from her.
“It’s always pressure out there when you’re the favorite. You never know how the younger players are playing,” Kvitova said. “They’re here with nothing to lose, they’re fearless.
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