A lot has changed for 13th seed Petra Kvitova since she last played at the US Open.
In December she was facing the prospect of retiring from the sport permanently after suffering a serious injury to her hand during a knife attack in her own apartment. Against all odds, the two-time Wimbledon champion returned to action at the French Open in May. Since then, she has achieved a win-loss record of 10-5 and won the Birmingham Open in June. It has been somewhat of a roller coaster for Kvitova, but she remains unfazed by it all.
“I think that I’m more relaxed right now.” She said about playing in New York. “I think that in Wimbledon, I was a bit nervous before every match, and today I felt a little relaxed and not really thinking too much about the tennis and about the match but just trying to enjoy myself on the court.”
In her first round match at Flushing Meadows on Monday, Kvitova edged her way past former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 7-5. It was a far from simple start to her campaign. In the first set the Czech got broken to love whilst serving at 5-4. Then in the second she was forced to fight back from a 3-5 deficit.
Kvitova achieved the first round win with the help of a winner-error count of 28-31.
“We had a couple of great battles in the past, so it’s always tricky to play with her.” Said Kvitova. “I know she hasn’t really played, hasn’t had like a lot of matches, same as me, so it was just who will be lucky in the end.”
‘Every day is different’
Monday’s win comes at a much needed time. Leading into the tournament, Kvitova has failed to win back-to-back matches at five consecutive tournaments. Her most recent setback was a first round loss at the New Haven Open last week. A performance that she herself has blasted.
“Luckily I played better than in New Haven, if I played the same as New Haven, I would not be sitting here as a winner.” She joked after defeating Jankovic. “Every day is just different, and I just try to find a way to get better.” She added.
Alize Cornet is next up for the 13th seed. The Frenchwoman disposed of Heather Watson in straight sets. The upcoming clash will be the first meeting between the two players since they last met at the US Open back in 2012.
“I think that she can really control the balls. She can really push you, as well. From the backhand I think that she’s pretty solid. With the forehand it’s a lot of topspin, which I think maybe it’s paying off up here.” Kvitova said about Cornet.
Today’s win over Jankovic is Kvitova’s 85th grand slam main draw win and 20th at the US Open.
