Petra Kvitova spoke about the tough conditions after reaching the third round at the BNP Paribas Open.
The former Wimbledon champion overcame Arantxa Rus 6-2 6-2 in a dominating display to reach the last 32.
Kvitova won 91% of her first service points as she reached the third round and set up a match with fellow grand slam champion Victoria Azarenka.
However this is a tournament that the Czech Republican has historically struggled in and despite her convincing opening win Kvitova feels that the conditions are tough for her game, “I didn’t really have the best results here so far. I made the quarter-final, I think, maybe once or twice,” Kvitova said before the tournament.
“But for me, this tournament, it’s such a beautiful event, the place and everything, so quiet and everything. But the surface and the balls, it’s nothing for me, unfortunately. It’s not flying at all. It’s very slow. It’s bouncing so high.
“For me, it’s really difficult to play here, actually. I know it’s not humid, which is good, but it could be very hot as I already had it in my practices. So it’s very, very tough, especially at this time. The weather is just totally different compared to March. I know it will be physically, mentally, really tough. I know it’s not really suiting my game, so that’s maybe even worse and tougher.”
Kvitova will look to make a strong end to her season with this being the last tournament of 2021.
Sunday’s meeting with Azarenka will be the ninth of their career with Kvitova leading the head-to-head 5-3 with their last meeting being before the pandemic.
