When Petra Kvitova takes to the All England Club’s pristine courts as one of only three 2016 competitors to have claimed the ladies’ title, she’ll do so with an added element of pressure.
“It’s tough because, of course, for me, I should be kind of confident on the grass ... I know how well I can play on it,” the Czech explained of the expectations that followed the lofty heights she achieved early in her career at Wimbledon.
“The other girl wants to play just (a) little bit better, and they want to beat me, especially here because they know what happened here ... opponents are really playing less with pressure.”
The challenge for Kvitova is arguably intensified in 2016, the Czech having struggled to maintain her usual high standards.
Progressing beyond the quarter-finals at only two of the 12 events she’s contested this season, Kvitova recently dropped outside the world’s top 10 for the first time since 2013.
If there is any place for the 26-year-old to turn form around it’s at Wimbledon, where she became a breakthrough Grand Slam champion as a 21-year-old in 2011, and a repeat in 2014.
“This is something really special,” said Kvitova ahead of her ninth campaign at The Championships. “If you ask any other tennis player what’s (the tournament) they want to win, they always say Wimbledon. It was the same with me when I was a kid.”
I won it twice already, which is like the dream already come true
“It’s just something that I didn’t really expect, and I won it twice already, which is like the dream already come true.”
It’s the happy memories that Kvitova will be calling on in 2016, the Czech recalling two matches as standouts among the many she has contested at SW19.
The first was the three-set win she claimed over five-time champion Venus Williams in the third round of 2014.
“I felt like she was the better player on the court in the first two sets and I was able to win it,” she recalled of the high-quality contest that many observers labelled as the best of that year’s Championships.
Kvitova’s other favourite match was against Eugenie Bouchard in the 2014 final, when she took just 55 minutes to secure her second Grand Slam title. The 6-3, 6-0 victory not only highlighted her superb show of power, but underlined the mental strength required to become a repeat major champion.
The elite status that followed her breakthrough victory at 2011 Wimbledon was initially a challenge for Kvitova, who was the first 1990s-born player to win a Grand Slam title.
“Honestly, for me it was very tough,” she explained. “It took me a while, like a year maybe, to get somehow used to these things as the media attention, whatever it’s bringing with it.”
“With the pressure on the court and off the court, it’s not really easy. You just feel that you should win everything when you win a Grand Slam but it’s not that easy ... it took me a while.”
Having navigated that difficult period of her career, Kvitova would hardly be panicking about recent difficulties, which included an early exit to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham and a three-set loss to Johanna Konta in the third round of Eastbourne.
“I played four matches, which I think is great preparation,” the Czech said of her early grass court experiences in 2016. “Two of them being in Eastbourne, which I think was (a) pretty good game from my side. I feel good. I’m healthy. That’s important. I’m ready to compete.”
Full fitness is undoubtedly a relief for Kvitova, who explained that the niggling leg injury that troubled her at Eastbourne is no longer an issue. Even more pleasing for the former champion, is her mindset.
“I’m feeling mentally strong, which is probably the most important thing to play tennis (at) this kid of level,” she said. “That’s one of the things which I was working on for many years already.”
“Well I always believe, of course,” she smiled. “So I am believing (it) as well this time.”Such a positive outlook highlights Kvitova’s healthy perspective; if there’s pressure for the two-time champion, she’s also ready to embrace it.Kvitova will need that confidence in her first-round match against Sorana Cirstea, who is returning to The Championships after an injury break.
“Definitely she’s a dangerous player, especially on the grass (but) I just need to be focusing on my game. That’s always important, not really thinking about the opponent.”
Asked if she was feeling that 2016 might deliver a third Wimbledon title, the Czech didn’t hesitate.
