Czech Teenager Petra Kvitova upsets Dinara Safina at US Open 2009

u-s-open-2009-czech-teenager-petra-kvitova-upsets-dinara-safina Little-known Czech teenager Petra Kvitova shocked world number one Dinara Safina 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 in a dramatic third-round upset at the US Open tennis 2009 on Saturday.

Czech teenager Kvitova (19), won the final-set tiebreaker 7-5 when top seed Safina floated a backhand long to end the two-hour, 34-minute affair on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“Disappointing. Very disappointing,” Dinara Safina said. “I came back in the second set, winning six games in a row, playing solid, good.

“Third set… (I had) everything in my hands. Definitely she played some good points. But I just feel I let it go away.”

The loss marked the first time this year that Safina (23) had failed to reach at least the semi-finals of a grand slam tournament 2009.

Serving at 5-6 in the third set, the 72nd-ranked Kvitova saved three match points to force the tiebreak on a cool night at Flushing Meadows.

The 19-years-old Kvitova bagged three straight points in the tiebreaker to take a 5-2 lead. Although the 23-years-old Safina trimmed the lead to 6-5, Kvitova won the final point on the Russian’s serve to seal the biggest win of her young career.

“Three match points, and I didn’t do anything on them,” a dejected Safina said.

When the match ended, Kvitova shrieked with delight before walking to the net to face Safina. The match ended at 12:47 a.m. local time inside a half-filled stadium.

“It’s amazing here,” she told the crowd. “I love New York.”

Czech Teenager Petra Kvitova upsets Dinara Safina at US Open 2009

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