Wimbledon: A truly open final

The outcome of the womens singles final will depend on the effectiveness of the Kvitova serve and her ability to dominate the points — which she has the ability to do on grass courts.

On paper, former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova would start a clear favourite against Eugenie Bouchard who will play her first Grand Slam final on Saturday. Add a facile 6-3, 6-2 victory over the young Canadian last year in Toronto and the odds in favour of the tall and powerful Czech appear even greater.

But none of this matters in what is a truly open and intriguing final on Centre Court as Bouchard has come a very long way since that loss. She reached the Grand Slam semifinals in the Australian and French Opens this year and the quality of her tennis, which displays remarkable all-round strengths, is on a sharp ascend.

Great temperament

The most compelling reason that suggests it will be foolish to write her off is an extraordinary temperament. She has shown no signs of nerves.

There wasn’t a trace of arrogance when she told the press, after defeating Simona Halep on Thursday, that she was not surprised to reach the final. And why didn’t she so much as even celebrate after winning?

Well, she said matter of factly, there is another match to get through and so it was not the time to celebrate.

Bouchard is clearly is the more rounded player with considerably better all-court skills.

But she faces a woman who is incredibly powerful of the serve and groundstrokes. When Kvitova crushed Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in the final here in 2011, she did this through a barrage of heavy hitting that the Russian had no answer for.

To defeat the hard-hitting Sharapova was creditable enough; to do this by overpowering her was quite astonishing.

Unflappable opponent

The outcome of the final will depend on the effectiveness of the Kvitova serve and her ability to dominate the points — which she has the ability to do on grass courts. The weapons are there but she is up against a seemingly unflappable opponent who seems both calm and confident that her time has come.

It’s hard to make firm predictions in this capricious game, but on current form no one seems better placed to occupy the vacuum at the top left by the decline of the Williams sisters.