By Richard Pagliaro
An old sports adage suggests nice guys finish last.
Two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova exhibits first-class sportsmanship.
More: Kvitova Fights Off Fernandez
The 30-year-old Czech has has been voted the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award winner by her WTA peers eight times in the last nine years. Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters, the 2012 Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship honoree, is the only woman aside from Kvitova to win the award during the last decade.
The 2012 French Open semifinalist routinely praises her opponents at the net and in press, is averse to temper tantrums, does not use gamesmanship as a weapon on court and respects all.
When it comes to sportsmanship, Kvitova is one of the greatest Open Era champions since Stefan Edberg, who was so classy on court the ATP named its sportsmanship award after the stylish Swede.
So how did Kvitova become such a class act and champion of fair play?
Two primary reasons: She was victimized by cheating opponents in the juniors—and she refused her parents request to retaliate reasoning two wrongs don't make a right.
"I just try to play fair play since I was kid because when I played those small tournaments when I was kid, the opponents were, like, cheating a little bit," Kvitova said after reaching the Roland Garros fourth round today—and praising her opponent, Leylah Fernandez. "My parents of course were very pissed of it, and they didn't like it.
"But they said, Okay, but you will not do it. If she does it, then do it, as well. But I said, Well, I can't do it. If it's in, I mean, I can't say it's out."
In short, Kvitova is simply too honest to cheat.
The victim of a horrific home invasion in 2016, Kvitova fought for her life against an armed intruder. She suffered stab wounds to her left hand that required a three-hour plus surgery in December of 2016 to repair ligament and tendon damage.
Kvitova, who still lacks feeling in one finger on her racquet hand, confesses her hand will never fully recover.
An ugly, brutal attack mangled her hand, but Kvitova refused to let it damage her heart.
"I'm just trying to kind of, you know, be still fair play and play even normal and behave normally," Kvitova said. "We are still human beings. I think that's how it is, and that's how tennis is in my eyes. It's always a sport, it's a gentleman's sport. That's how I feel it."
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve