Petra Kvitova celebrates after striking her first ace of the match on matchpoint against former ... [+]
Petra Kvitova vividly remembers the moment she realised her life would never be the same again.
Having just won her first Grand Slam title at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, after beating Maria Sharapova of Russia in straight sets, the then 21-year-old Czech was in the women’s locker room at the All England Club, getting ready to face the world’s media.
"I was washing my hair and then somebody came and she said: ‘Just put a little bit of mascara on, dry your hair a little bit more’", Kvitova said in a phone interview from Bad Homburg, Germany last week. "I said, ‘Why?’ She said: ‘You are the Wimbledon champion.’
"It was a lady from Nike, she just took care of me when the match was over," recalled Kvitova. "And I was like, ‘Yeah, OK’. I was pretty young, so of course I listened, I heard her and I did it. But I was like, ‘I will be late” and she said, ‘Five minutes, it's OK’".
Kvitova ended up talking to the media for more than two hours, the enormity of what she had achieved beginning to sink in.
An awful lot has happened to Kvitova in the intervening 10 years, from the highs – like winning a second Wimbledon title three years later – to the lowest of lows, suffering an horrendous knife attack in her own home that threatened her life and almost ended her career.
Kvitova spoke to the world's media for two hours after winning her first Wimbledon title in 2011. ... [+]
The Czech has also become one of the sport’s most popular players, both on and off the court. In the past decade, Kvitova has been a mainstay in the women’s Top 10, winning 28 tournament titles, including that second Wimbledon Championship in 2014, when she produced tennis as good as anything seen on the famous Centre Court.
“Definitely one of the best ones,” she said about her 55-minute, 6-3, 6-0 win over Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard. “Especially (because) it was the final of Wimby. I did almost everything like, good, so that was really something.”
In 2011, though, she was not expected to beat Sharapova, the former champion, who had reached the final without dropping a set. Instead, Kvitova produced a nerveless performance, finishing off the match with her first ace of the final.
“When I was 5-4 (in the second set), before my game serving for the match, I was sitting on the bench and I was like, ‘OK, now is the chance, that may only happen just once in your life so just take it, just try to take it,” said Kvitova, who made the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2019.
“That's what I remember, really, I was talking to myself. It never really happened to me....so it was very weird. The first rally, the first point of the (final) game was pretty important for me, it was finishing in a good way for me. And then on match point, it was just there. I did many aces (in her life) but it was the first ace of the match and it was on match point.”
Off the court, it took Kvitova some time to get used fame and her newfound status as a Grand Slam winner.
"In the beginning it was really difficult for me to find a way to handle it, how to behave, how to say no to things," Kvitova said.
"I still wanted to play tennis, I still wanted to be better and just to find a balance, that was really tough. And of course, the pressure, not only from the outside, but from my side as well, to be playing very well, to beat everybody, to win another Grand Slam. It's been difficult, to be honest."
Kvitova suffered a freak accident earlier this month at Roland-Garros, slipping on a step between television interviews after her first-round win. Her left ankle ligaments were so badly damaged, she was forced to withdraw from the second round of the French Open.
Although Kvitova said she had very little practice time on the grass due to the injury, she was in fine form last week in Bad Homburg, where she reached the semi-finals.
When the tennis world shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kvitova took the time to spend time with family.
“Luckily, I don't have anybody close to me who died from covid but I know how many people died,” said Kvitova, who stressed how lucky tennis players have been to continue doing their jobs.
“I know how many got sick with covid, my friends as well, so I know how tough it is. I was lucky enough so far not to have it, even my parents, my family, so that's very good.
“Overall, of course, it hurts everybody, people are losing jobs, life, it wasn't nice. It's not the best. I hope it's getting better but with all the mutations, we are still not there, unfortunately.”
The five-month shutdown of all professional tennis last year due to the pandemic not only gave Kvitova a chance to rest and recover, but also to reconnect.
“For me being home was great, I saw my family very, very often, so I enjoyed it a lot,” she said. “It was tough to get back on the tour, to be honest. It’s nice to kind of stop a little bit the life, not to be in a rush that much and just enjoy the people around, because it's the time which we can't buy, the time is running so fast.”
Back on her beloved grass for the first time in two years, Kvitova is seeded No 10 for this year’s Wimbledon Championships. She is hopeful she can have another big run.
“I am very happy…that I'm able to step on the grass again, so that's very nice,” she said. “I missed Wimby so much last year. When they announced Wimbledon was canceled, I really felt very sad, I was crying a little bit as well, I got a little bit emotional (that) Wimbledon was not happening.
“It's been pretty sad and I'm really happy to be back on it, and I'm really looking forward to it, nice to have the chance to be at Wimby again and just enjoy it,” said Kvitova, who faces former US Open champion Sloane Stephens of the US in her opening round on Monday.
