Australian Open 2012 live stream

Second seed Petra Kvitova is one of four players who could leave this Australian Open with the No. 1 ranking neatly packed in her suitcase.

Kvitova, the reigning Wimbledon champion, joins current No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, No.3 Victoria Azarenka, No.4 Maria Sharapova and No.8 Agnieszka Radwanska as the players not only fighting for the coveted Australian Open title, but also vying for the top ranking.

“I know that we are some players who can be No. 1 after the tournament,” said Kvitova, after winning her second round match 6-2 2-6 6-4 against Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain on Thursday afternoon. 

“But it’s not in my head. It’s in the future. So we will see.”

 Kvitova is blessed with some of the cleanest strokes in the game, likes to hit the ball flat and is comfortable shaving the lines. Where she can run into trouble is her ability to make too many silly unforced errors, a habit she needs to curb.

She displayed both sides of her game in the match against the 58th-ranked Suarez Navarro. Her second-round struggle was in stark contrast to her easy first-round match where sailed past Vera Dushevina, of Russia 6-2 6-0.  

Kvitova established a dominant stance in the first set against Suarez Navarro, taking hold of two of four break points. But the 21-year-old Czech lost control in the second set, and struggled to gain control of the third set. She made 17 unforced errors to two for Suarez Navarro in the second set, and followed that with 16 unforced errors to eight for the Spaniard in the final set. 

“The mistakes in my game, it’s part of my game,” said Kvitova, acknowledging her ability to rack up unforced errors. “So I know that I will have some mistakes. But today was too many.”

After allowing Suarez Navarro to break her serve twice in the second set, Kvitova fell behind 2-0 in the third set. However, she was able to draw even to 2-2 and then broke serve in the fifth game to establish a permanent lead. 

“It was [a] very important match to have like this in a tournament,” said Kvitova, of being tested by Suarez Navarro. “For my mentality, it was very tough, and I fight today. It was good preparation for next match. I know that I can fight and I can win if I’m playing badly.”

Kvitova put herself in contention as a future No.1 via a stunning 2011 campaign, winning her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon as well as trophies at Brisbane, Paris (indoors), Madrid, Linz and the year-end WTA Championships (Istanbul). She also led the Czech Republic to the Fed Cup title in November, the first Fed Cup success since the country split away from Slovakia in 1994. The mixture of titles certified Kvitova as a citizen of all-court tennis. She can win on grass, hardcourts, indoor courts and clay -- you can’t ask for anything more than that kind of diversity. 

Kvitova is clearly a great talent, but she’s not the type of personality that courts attention. She adores playing tennis, but would be fine going unnoticed. She knows, though, that her days of anonymity are over. 

“I’m really happy that I’m No.2. Why not?” she said. “It’s great to be No.2, but this is really something new for me. Everything is different.

“It was easy to play like (No.) 30 and be as an outsider in the match. (But) I have to fine with this as this is part of my life now.”