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Watch: Radwanska and Kvitova Beat Rain to Win


On a day filled with rain delays at Wimbledon, two title contenders in the women’s draw found safe and dry passage into the second round.

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No. 3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 10 seed Petra Kvitova both managed to make it through their opening round matches despite rain delaying or even cancelling many matches on the outer courts on Wednesday.

Radwanska had the luxury of being scheduled inside Centre Court with the roof closed. The 2012 finalist faced off against Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova in a first round match that was originally scheduled on No. 2 Court for Tuesday.

Despite Kozlova showing fine grass court skills, it was Radwanska’s experience that shown through in the end as she completed a quick 6-2, 6-1 win in just over an hour.

“With the weather, I was really lucky to play on Centre and get the match done,” Radwanska said. “I’ve played with the roof closed a couple of times. It’s really humid. But of course I like it, especially when I’m already delayed by a day. I was mentally ready to go on Tuesday, then rain. The more roofs, the better.”

The two-time former champion Kvitova, however, was forced to endure a four hour rain delay. Finally, Kvitova stepped onto Court 18 to face a potentially dangerous opponent in Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Kvitova, on the strength of 20 winners and seven aces, wrapped up a 6-0, 6-4 win in just 54 minutes.

“I'm kind of the person who just takes it how it is, so I wasn't really nervous about the rain delay. We were just lying in the locker room, having fun with the girls. Sometimes it's good to catch up when you can't play,” Kvitova said about the delay. “Every match is different. Of course, I'm kind of glad how I played, how else everything looked today on the court.”

After the match, Kvitova recollected on her favorite moments at Wimbledon and when she realized she could play well on grass.

“I remember many people told me I can play on the grass,” Kvitova said. “The moment when I find out was I think 2010 when I played semi-final against Serena. In the quarter-finals, my opponent Kaia Kanepi had three match points or four. I was somehow able to still do it, play good match with Serena. "That was probably the time I realised I can play well here.”

Kvitova also enjoyed having her parents on-site to watch her compete.



Though Radwanska and Kvitova are potential quarterfinal foes, they still have a lot of work to do to reach the elite eight.

Kvitova next faces the winner between Ekaterina Makarova and Johanna Larsson. The higher-seed Radwanska next gets Croatia’s Ana Konjuh in the second round.

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