By Adrianna Outlaw | Tuesday, April 19, 2016
It was an open and shut case for Petra Kvitova. The seventh-ranked Kvitova opened her clay-court season shutting out Louisa Chirico.
Contesting her first clay-court match since the 2015 Roland Garros, Kvitova crushed Chirico, 6-0, 6-0, in a 55-minute shutout.
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It was the fifth double bagel dispensed this season on the WTA Tour. Kvitova finished in style smacking a forehand winner inside the sideline.
It was Kvitova's first win in Stuttgart since she defeated Julia Goerges in the 2013 round of 16. Kvitova has suffered successive first-round exits at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, losing to Alisa Kleybanova in 2014 and falling in the first round to Madison Brengle last year.
In her first match since hiring ATP pro and fellow Czech Frantisek Cermak as her new coach, Kvitova thumped 29 winners overpowering the American qualifier.
The two-time Wimbledon champion won 17 of 19 points played on her first serve and saved the only break point she faced.
Kvitova was lethal on return, winning 15 of 20 points played on Chirico's second serve and breaking six times.
Germany's Annika Beck saved all seven break points she faced defeating lucky loser Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 6-2. The 41st-ranked Beck advanced to an all-German second-round showdown with second-seeded Angelique Kerber, who is the defending Stuttgart champion.
It was a good day for German tennis. German qualifier Laura Siegemund, who lives in Stuttgart, surprised Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-0, 7-5, in 83 minutes. Siegemund's reward is a second-round date with fourth-seeded Simona Halep.