Petra Kvitova shows singular class of fellow leftie Phil Mickelson

TheGuardian: The Czech won her second Wimbledon singles title with a display of power that left Eugenie Bouchard with little chance

Hail Petra Kvitova, the 2014 Wimbledon champion and the Phil Mickelson of tennis. It is not just that she and the golfer are both lefties, it is more the high-stakes, singular, uncoachable spirit with which they approach their endeavours. Their output is likely to be genius or horrible with almost nothing in between.

On Saturday, as she thrashed Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0, Kvitova was very not horrible. One of her second serves was so wild that it almost yorked Bouchard on the baseline, but everything else was golden. At times, it felt like we were illicitly peering in on a Kvitova dream as she hammered winner after pure, clinical winner from all over the court. It may have felt like a reverie to the 24-year-old Czech herself, one she had had many times since she won her first Wimbledon title three years ago.

“I knew that I could play well on the grass, but I really played so well today,” said Kvitova. “Maybe it was magic. I was really prepared for everything and I think that for her it wasn’t easy when she saw I was really running and putting everything back to her. I know I’m in the zone when I’m doing these things.”

Grass is a surface that should be Kvitova’s backyard. Her equivalent of Mickelson’s lob wedge is her thunderous, versatile serve that can typically be relied on to extricate her from whatever hole she lands herself in. A wondrous thing it is, too. In this tournament, she posted 42 aces and no player delivered more unreturned bombs. As she showed against Bouchard, she can carve it wide or swing it into the body. But mostly she just smites it accurately and with the might of an angry god.

And yet Kvitova – former champion, No6 seed – came into the match against the 20-year-old Canadian, who was playing just her sixth grand slam tournament, curiously underappreciated. Bouchard had been relentlessly impressive en route to the final and much of her success came from stepping inside the baseline to wallop her returns. Before she played Kvitova, Bouchard had faced more than 400 serves and struck only six of them from behind the white line.

The approach – if you are talented enough to pull it off – deprives the opponent of time and has unsettled everyone Bouchard has played against. The problem was that she hadn’t come across anyone with Kvitova’s serve. Or her return. Or her ability to hit deep and heavy from just about anywhere.

Be clear, this was not a meltdown, even if it was the briefest Wimbledon final – 55 minutes – since 1983. Nor did Bouchard unravel and end the match in tears like Jana Novotna in 1993 or Sabine Lisicki last year. Bouchard is not a player given to ostentatious displays of emotion. Earlier in the tournament, it was pointed out to her in a press conference that she tended to put her hands on her hips when she was frustrated. She replied that this had been noted already and we wouldn’t see it much again.

On Saturday, Bouchard gritted her Hollywood-white teeth throughout what must have been a chastening defeat for someone with such bulletproof self-belief. She had noted she was especially excited to play in front of her namesake Princess Eugenie – the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, who looked on from the royal box – but insisted that nerves didn’t play a part.

“I don’t think I felt overwhelmed,” said Bouchard, who would have been the youngest Wimbledon champion since a 17-year-old Maria Sharapova won a decade ago. “It was different. Walking out, we were holding flowers instead of our tennis bags. The applause was really loud, but as soon as we started hitting, I felt a bit more in my element. I felt: ‘OK, it’s just a match. It’s starting.’”

The loss hit home when, the match over, ominous clouds sent the players off the court while the roof was closed before the trophy presentation. “Yeah, it was a little odd,” Bouchard said. “I sat down. I put my jacket on. Just reflected. I was in the engraver’s room, so I was watching them work, wishing one day, dreaming that he’ll write my name somewhere.”

Few doubt that Bouchard’s name will appear on the Wimbledon honours board one day. One complication is that when Kvitova plays this well, it is hard to imagine how anyone could beat her. Her solitary weakness seems largely mental: she has admitted she was unprepared for the attention that followed her 2011 triumph, but hopes she is better prepared this time round. Perhaps from here on, we will see more of the genius and less of the horrible.

“During the match, I feel the crowd,” said Kvitova. “My stomach is a little bit funny. I have goosebumps.” She smiled bashfully and shook her head. “I feel more relaxed now.”

Tim Lewis at Wimbledon