Sport delivers the best stories. They deliver emotional backstories, where you can really feel invested into a particular athlete’s journey to the top, but in tennis this week, Petra Kvitova’s return and rise from heartbreak just five months ago is one that tops any story not just in tennis but in sport in general.
In just Kvitova’s second tournament back since she was attacked in her home in Czech Republic, the two-time Wimbledon champion tore through the field in Birmingham to lift her first title in 2017 and her 20th title overall. You really don’t get much better than that.
This title in Birmingham is the first title she has won on grass outside of the two titles in Wimbledon and it marks a perfect preparation for her buildup to the third Grand Slam of the year in a week’s time.
The final started with a lot of tension and anxiety. Kvitova was struggling to find her first serve and did not have the ground game in place to back up the frailties in the first serve. That showed when she got her breakthrough in the third game to get the first break for 2-1. The plucky Australian was always getting looks at Kvitova’s serve and was easily the better player on serve and the more aggressive to begin with.
Kvitova started finding more consistency on her serve towards the end of the first set, but the first break for Barty was enough to take the first over the much more experienced Kvitova, who has featured in many WTA finals – 27 in total.
That showed as the match progressed. The first serve percentage still remained much lower than Kvitova would have wanted, but the key to the second set was how she converted those point when the first serve landed. There were still chances for Barty to make the second set interesting, but Kvitova still went on to take the second set 6-3.
The third set was by far Kvitova’s best set of the match. Now she started to be the aggressor and boss Barty around the court, while Barty’s level had dropped marginally, which cannot happen against a champion as good as Kvitova.
Kvitova broke serve in the beginning of the deciding set, before being pegged back for 2-2. The Czech broke back immediately after, but it was the sixth game where we witnessed Kvitova’s grass court tennis at it’s greatest. Firing winners from every position in the court and feeling much more confident on serve, when Kvitova is in that sort of mood there really is only one winner on this surface.
The ace out wide on the first match point gave Kvitova the victory on one of the most memorable weeks on the WTA for quite some time. In tennis we see winners each and every week, but not every week do we see a fairytale return as good as this.
Runner-up Ashleigh Barty’s words on how the final played out echoed exactly what I said previously: “I think it was a pretty high quality match, we both started well and I served particularly well in that first set and I think it gave me the upper hand. But Petra came out in the second and put me on the back foot pretty early.”
The most important thing was whether Kvitova could play her style of game at a high enough level for a long period of time and whether she could lead the points with that aggressive approach. In the third set in particular she definitely did just that.
Barty also added her thoughts on Kvitova’s epic return and repeated what she’d said in press this week: “It’s so amazing to have Petra back on the court. She’s such an inspiration. She’s always been a great champion but I think we appreciate that more now that she’s back playing week-in and week-out.
Kvitova talked in press about how great this victory is and how she compares it to the other trophies she has won: “I didn’t expect this in my second tournament after my comeback. So yeah, I think this kind of a fairytale.”
The 2017 Aegon Classic champion felt this was special in comparison to other titles she won: “Definitely, yes. I mean it’s hard to say anything, but I think I’ve been through a very difficult time in my life, and it wasn’t about the tennis, but about to come back healthy and alive and move my fingers properly and everything like that and this is something clearly special.”
She continued: “And I always said that I’m not here just to play tennis. I’m here to play my best and to win trophies, like today. So I have to say that I’m kind of proud of myself that I did it today.”
This win is massive for women’s tennis. A star name back in the fold and a player that everyone can relate to during their own personal battles. Not only did Petra Kvitova win today, but tennis won also.
