Petra Kvitova (zimbio.com)
Petra Kvitova is the Mutua Madrid Open champion for a record breaking third time after finally seeing off the spirited challenge of Kiki Bertens 7-6 (6) 4-6 6-3 after 2 hours and 52 minutes of mercurial tennis.
Petra Kvitova (zimbio.com)
Having missed out on playing last year while recovering from surgery to her left hand following a stabbing incident by an intruder in her home at the end of 2016, Kvitova’s return as Madrid Open champion could hardly have been any sweeter.
It was not a match of the highest quality, maybe the cool and breezy conditions had something to do with it. Kvitova, seeded and ranked 10, made 58 unforced errors and 39 winners, while the unseeded Bertens was a little less erratic with 48 unforced errors and 32 winners. In the end, the better player won, but she made heavy weather of it.
The one and only time these two had faced off, Kvitova totally destroyed Bertens 6-1 6-0 on the lush grass courts of Wimbledon in 2015 in a mere 36 minutes. Today’s marathon encounter could hardly have been any more different.
Kvitova was all too often ending points with a winner or an unforced error, with Bertens playing the more consistent and balanced percentage tennis.
Both players had break point chances early on, but it was Bertens who broke first to move 4-2 ahead when an errant Kvitova forehand went wide. Kvitova broke straight back however, and with games going with serve thereafter, the set would be settled by a tiebreak.
Kvitova found herself two set points up after a couple of unforced errors from her opponent, and although she was unable to close it out as Bertens fought her way back to parity, the Czech left hander screamed in relief and elation when a Bertens backhand found the net on the third set point. The Dutch woman tossed her racket across the court in disgust at the loss of the 74 minute set which she could well have won.
At the changeover, Kvitova finally decided to put on a long sleeved sweater to counter the cold conditions, and she suddenly began to play more consistently off the ground and on serve. As the sliding roof closed overhead, Kvitova held serve in the fifth game saving two break points, but it seemed as if the warmer indoor conditions suited Bertens more as the Dutch woman began to play more purposefully. She broke the Kvitova serve in the seventh game as the Czech went long on her forehand. She held serve from there, closing out the set 6-4 with an ace.
As in the first set, both women had early break point chances in the opening games of the final set, but failed to capitalise. Kvitova broke for 4-2 when Bertens double faulted after the Czech had set up the break point with a forehand pass that clipped the sideline. Kvitova’s jubilation was short lived as she immediately dropped serve when she drove a backhand into the net to the Dutch woman’s delight, after Bertens had set up the break point with a perfectly executed backhand drop shot winner.
In the next game, Kvitova set up two break points with a humdinger of a forehand winner up the line, she failed to convert, but got a third chance which Bertens saved with an ace. She finally broke on a fourth opportunity and served for the match at 5-3. She wasted no time in closing out the match to love as Bertens mistimed backhand found the tramlines.
“It feels sweet and weird as well”, Kvitova said when asked by a reporter how it felt to return as a three – time champion after not being able to play last year. “I didn’t really expect that, even (after) the same time last year and even coming after winning Prague last week, I didn’t really think that I could be in the final and winning the trophy back to back. My body is very exhausted so I’m pretty surprised that my body could handle it somehow. Every title feels great, winning three times here in Madrid means something, it’s not really happening every day, so I’m very proud of myself.”
“It’s great to see her playing so well”, Kvitova said concerning Bertens. “She’s a great person and I really like her. It’s nice to see her playing like that. The last time we played on the grass it was a little bit different. She has improved a lot and she loves to play on clay. She just won Charleston and I remember when she is playing Roland Garros, she is always playing great. Obviously, she has a forehand with a lot of topspin which puts her opponent so far behind the baseline which makes it very difficult to put pressure on her and she can do whatever she wants with her forehand and she moves a player so well and she has great hands, so she can do a lot of slices and drops shots. She has a great body serve, and when she is at the net she has almost won the point and she hardly ever misses. So she is really difficult to play on the clay and now those matches on the clay are really painful. She is finding her serve as well in the important moments and speed wise it’s a great serve and with the kick on the second serve. She is moving very well and she is sliding to the shots and putting the ball back like a metre from the baseline. It’s difficult to do anything from those balls.”
Kvitova announced that she would not play Rome.
“I’m pretty exhausted so I need to pull out from Rome”, she said. Like wonder given her heroics over the past two weeks, winning Prague and Madrid back to back on her least favourite surface. However, she still refuses to consider herself a title contender at Roland Garros. “I’ve been to the semi-final there one year and probably I can play well there, but I know how really tough it is. Winning Prague and here has made me very happy, but on the other hand it’s a Grand Slam and it’s a different story. Different atmosphere and different balls. I will try and play better than the last time, but I don’t want to put any pressure on myself anyway. I think there are maybe better players playing on the clay, so we’ll see what happens over there.
Bertens had come so close to winning the biggest title of her life, but she gave it everything she had and lost to the better player in the end.
“I think it was a great final”, Bertens said. “I think in the beginning we were both a little bit nervous and trying to find our games. I think it was really a good fight back from me in the second set and I played really well. Then I had some chances at the beginning of the third set but I didn’t take it. But Petra was playing some unbelievable shots there, so credit to her today.”
“I think I can be really proud of myself and seeing where I am coming from. Just playing at the level that I played today was quite OK for such a big final, I think I made pretty big steps in that. Of course it really hurts right now, I think you can see that, but maybe tomorrow or nest week, or in a few weeks I can really look back on a great week and know I’m on the right way.”
