Birmingham’s defending champion, Petra Kvitova, will have to come through a mightily tough draw if she is to defend the title she won twelve months ago as she starts her defence against the British No. 1, Johanna Konta.
It has been quite the emotional return to form for the Czech, who fell victim to a knife-attack at her home in an eastern Czech town in Prostejov, but has since returned to sparkling form in the twelve months she has spent back on the tennis court. Her return began at Roland-Garros last year, where she bravely beat America’s Julia Boserup in her first match but later bowed out to Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The road to her best form has been mostly on an upward trend since then. She claimed her first title in just her second tournament back. This title came in Birmingham where Kvitova beat some big names en route to the trophy, including Kristina Mladenovic, who started the 2017 season magnificently, Lucie Safarova and Ashleigh Barty.
Kvitova has since picked up titles in St. Petersburg on the indoor hard, Doha on outdoor hard, and Prague and Madrid on the clay. Her success rate on a variation of surfaces emphasises the level of tennis she has returned to this season, which included a 14-match unbeaten run along the way.
Kvitova now looks forward to her favourite part of the season – the grass. The two-time Wimbledon champion is one of the main contenders to go and win a third time because of her grass court pedigree and the brutality of her ball-striking. Johanna Konta will feel as though her name should be put into this conversation because of her strong display in Birmingham and past Wimbledon performances, most notably getting to the semi finals in 2017.
Konta is coming off a torrid twelve months. It felt like these injuries came at the worst possible time for Konta. The Brit was on the top of her game and was looking close to capturing a Grand Slam title, before the injuries forced her to sit on the side line and watch her ranking plummet. The Brit started Birmingham last year at No.7 in the rankings and now sits at No.22 with big points to defended in Nottingham, where she is currently playing the semi-finals, a semi-final showing to defend in Eastbourne and Wimbledon are also looming over her shoulder.
The positive thing for Konta is that her game suits the grass far better than the clay surface, where she still under-performed but produced better tennis in parts than what she has done recent years. She made small steps in Madrid and Rome before losing in the first round of the French Open to Yulia Putintseva. Those small steps are important to Konta to believe in the process she is undertaking with new coach Michael Joyce. Those small steps could turn into very big ones on her much preferred grass, but she will need to be close to her best to topple a grass giant in the form of Petra Kvitova, whose expectations will be very high this week.
I think the expectation will really be on Kvitova to deliver as a defending champion and as the more-established grass courter. The pressure should be off Konta to a certain degree after doing very well in Nottingham. Konta has the momentum on her side because of the vital match-wins she has put together and she has to keep the ball rolling and take advantage of a wonderful opportunity to beat one of the game’s most decorated players.
Last year in Birmingham, Kvitova served very well overall and was able to get the first big strike in the rally frequently. In most matches involving the Czech, the rallies were usually dictated by her, whether it be an ace, a winner or an unforced error, Kvitova likes being in control of the outcome of matches, but so does Konta. Konta has to find a way to impose her return game and her first forehand into the match as much as possible. Usually when a player approaches matches trying to survive against Kvitova, they open themselves up to being a spectator in the rally, so Konta has to play her margins well, but acknowledge that she cannot be bullied by Kvitova or the match could be over very quickly for her.
A big key will be defending the second serve well. If Konta has to continuously defend her soft second serve, Kvitova will take advantage and take time away from the Brit. If Kvitova gets the first strike in the rally, Konta will find herself in a place she does not want to be.
I think on overall familiarity with winning big at this event, you have to pick Kvitova to win. Konta loves the grass and enjoys the British summer on grass courts, but she has not had the same successes in Birmingham as she has in her home event in Eastbourne. Konta has never won back-to-back matches at the Edgbaston Priory Club and she faces an uphill task in trying to beat Kvitova in the first round of action.
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