DUBAI // Last Sunday, Petra Kvitova, the Czech, two-time Wimbledon champion, was asked about her “strange” record at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The world No 3 has made four appearances at this tournament and three times she has failed to negotiate the first hurdle. In 2013, she was the champion.
“That’s how it is with me,” she said. “It’s not surprising. It’s good to know that this year can only be better than the last year.”
Her hopes of doing better, seemed headed for the millstones last night, though, as Elina Svitolina raced through the first set of their second-round clash.
But there was not a bead of sweat on Kvitova’s forehead, not a sign of worry. She just came back and kept swinging, bringing her nerveless, often high-risk but always hugely damaging game to the court.
Breathless winners soon started flowing and Svitolina, a 20-year-old star of the future, was forced to surrender, much in the manner of Eugenie Bouchard at last year’s Wimbledon final.
“The thing with me is I have great highs,” said Kvitova, who will face Carla Suarez Navarro today after booking her place in the third round with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.
“Of course, the lows are very low as well. I’m probably this player who plays a very risky game, very aggressive.
“It’s not at the same level every time, but I’m working on finding some consistency.”
As she said, consistency has never been her forte and Kvitova looked a shadow of her best self in the first set.
The 24-year-old Czech could get only 48 per cent of her first serves in – her opponent got 72 per cent. Kvitova faced three break points and failed to save any – Svitolina faced two and saved one.
“I’m not sure where I was in the first set,” Kvitova said. “I don’t think I was on the court. But that happens sometimes. I really wanted to play aggressively and I made a lot of mistakes. Very easy balls, I just give it for free.
“That was something that I didn’t want, of course. But, on the other side, I didn’t want to play just small rallies with nothing, no power.”
Nobody would want to see Kvitova play that way because, when on song, she can take women’s tennis to a different realm, peaks that are reached only when a Serena Williams or a Maria Sharapova are on court.
Unlike those two, Kvitova is not yet the finished article, much more a work in progress as, often, she can disappear without a warning; her blazing guns just fall silent.
Kvitova remembers such a moment against Navarro here last year. She was a set and 4-2 up, but lost 1-6, 6-4, 7-6. She had even led 4-2 in the third set and then served for the match at 5-4.
“Yeah, sometimes I have these bad memories,” Kvitova said. “You know, last year I played really great. I was leading 4-2 in the second set and was nearly done, and suddenly I wake up and I’m losing in the third set.
“So, yeah, I didn’t want to lose my first match here, for sure. I want to be better.”
Kvitova’s resolve to get better will surely be tested by Navarro today but, if she needed an inspiration, the Czech should look no further than Simona Halep.
Two years ago, the Romanian was playing in the qualifiers here, now she is the top seed and last night she played like one, demolishing Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-0.
“Today I felt very well on court and I hope tomorrow will be the same I think for me,” Halep said. “But every match is difficult here, so I have to be careful and to be very focused.”
“First of all, is not easy to start a tournament. She had a match before, so it was better for her.
“But, you know, I think she was a little bit tired because she came from Pattaya. She played good tennis there. Here I was more fresh maybe, and I was running very well. My shots were very, very strong and very deep. I played good tennis, and I’m really happy that I found, you know, the way to win a match here in Dubai.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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