Entering the media room full of laughter and smiles, the stress of defending her Madrid title is doing little to dampen the spirits of Petra Kvitova.
The Czech has extended her winning streak in Madrid to eight matches after seeing off Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-3, in the second round of the Madrid Open. During her encounter against Vesnina, who has recently experianced a surge in her form on the tour, the world No.6 closed out the match without dropping her serve.
“It was nice to be on center court again,” the 26-year-old said shortly after her win.
“ It felt very special, very great that I could play on the court again and win.”
The Manolo Santana stadium brings back happy memories for Kvitova. In 2015 she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the Madrid Open to claim her first WTA Premier mandatory title for five years.
The smiles in Madrid is a sharp contrast to the early part of her season. Suffering an unexpected early loss at the Australian Open, she ended her seven-year coaching agreement with David Kotyza. Replacing Kotyza is former doubles specialist Frantisek Cermak. The partnership between the two appears to running smoothly. Discussing the current sate of her game with ubitennis, the two-time Wimbledon champion said that she is ‘happy’ with how things are at the moment.
“I’m happy with my performance right now. I think I played great matches in Stuttgart, and especially two weeks before the Stuttgart I had a good preparation on the clay,” Kvitova told ubitennis.net.
“I have a new coach. That’s always great to have someone who’s helping you and finding a good way of your game and plan.”
Kvitova’s Madrid Open chances has been given a sharp increase following carnage at the top of the women’s draw. The top two seeds, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber, suffered shock first match losses. The duo of exits may have shocked some people, but not Kvitova.
“For Angie it’s really difficult. She just won Stuttgart and I think she would be very exhausted afterward,” she said.
“Aga, I didn’t really see anything, but I know how difficult it is to play someone very good from the first rounds.”
“I think that we are getting used to it about the upsets.”
There is still one threat standing in her way, a potential quarterfinal meeting with Indian Wells and Miami Open champion Victoria Azarenka. The infectious smile of Kvitova is beaming brightly at the moment. Weather she will be at the end of the week is another question.
