No regrets, no surrender.
Petra Kvitova continued her comeback to tennis in 2018 in blazing fashion, winning five titles, 47 matches and a lot of well-deserved love from fans, peers and media along the way. The Czech, who suffered career-threatening lacerations to her racquet hand when attacked by a knife-wielding burglar late in 2016, has been an inspiration to all who have watched her return to former glory, both on the court as an earth-shaking talent, and off the court as a wise veteran that has consistently demonstrated courage and soul in her dealings with press and fans.
The 28-year-old Czech was not able to find the winning formula at the majors in 2018, where she went just 4-4 this season and didn’t make the second week once, or at the WTA Finals, where she dropped all three of her round robin tilts, but Kvitova proved that she's still very much an elite talent on the WTA Tour in spite of it all, and she is hopeful that she can improve upon those results in 2019.
The game is clearly there, as Kvitova proved when she reeled off two winning streaks of over ten matches earlier in the season—it’s just a matter of delivering it at the biggest events.
Kvitova might not need to change anything in 2019. It could just be that her tremendous success early in the season left her a little overworked at the majors and in the second half of the season.
Perhaps the Czech, a player that has always cherished her "me time" away from the game, simply needs to lighten her schedule a bit next season.
Kvitova admitted that her schedule may have been a little too demanding this season with a little prodding from reporters on Thursday after she dropped her final match to Karolina Pliskova at Singapore.
“Definitely physically I was pretty empty after everything which I had been through those couple of matches in a row, those huge tournaments, the final of the Madrid, it was just so tiring, and even I just look back and, yeah, I don't know how I did it,” she said. “But definitely was physically. Mentally, of course, I need to really be there for those really tough, tough matches which I played. It took me some energy, as well.”
Whether the season ended on her terms or not (Note: Kvitova will play the Fed Cup final on Nov. 10-11 vs. Team U.S.A.), the Czech believes that things worked out the way they did for a reason. She’ll forget the disappointing losses and take the confidence of all the great tennis she played with her.
That and her desire to keep improving.
“What I can change for 2019? I don't know,” she said. “I just need to sit and have a think about. But there is still a lot of things which I can improve in the game, for sure. Of course those matches which I played here show something which I need to work on it, and, yeah, we'll see what will happen.”
Perhaps most important is the fact that Kvitova, so shaken by the horrific incident that occurred late in 2016, can continue to gain distance from the trauma, both emotional and physical. She may never stop being haunted by it, but each day that passes is another step further away from those demons.
“I think the whole circle already ended this year in Roland Garros,” Kvitova said. “It was a year since I came back, so it's gone already. So I don't really think about it anymore.”
By: Chris Oddo