Czechs will be given a chance to see home tennis player Petra Kvitová compete for her first Grand Slam and Wimbledon singles crown on television with the country’s main commercial broadcaster, TV Nova, scrapping its planned broadcasts to screen Saturday’s match live.
Powerful left-hander Kvitová is attempting to be the first Czech to win the women’s singles title since Jana Novotná triumphed on Wimbledon’s grass 13 years ago.
The six-foot-tall Czech, currently ranked eighth in the world, faces fifth seed Maria Sharapova; the 24-year-old Russian is probably the slight favorite going into the match because of her experience in grand slam finals, including a Wimbledown singles win in 2004. Kvitová was also on the losing end the only time she played Sharapova
Kvitová was also on the losing end the only time she played Sharapova, but that was on a hard court in the US and the Czech 21-year-old is looking good on grass after already getting to the final of the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Eastbourne. Kvitová has been on a great run this year, beginning 2011 with only her second career title at the Brisbane International
Kvitová has been on a great run this year, beginning 2011 with only her second career title at the Brisbane International and going on to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open. With 36 matches won against eight losses, she had rocketed up the rankings in 2011 after being placed in thirty-fourth position at the end of 2010. She turned professional in 2006.
Model performance?
Unlike Sharapova, whose modeling and sponsorship career has sometimes appeared to overshadow her on court performances, Kvitová has largely kept out of the public spotlight, even in her home country.
Like many tennis players, the Czech believes in sticking with off-court customs that apparently bring her luck and stave off defeat. Her parents deliberately stayed away from Thursday’s three-set semi-final match against Victoria Azarenka from Belarus.
They travelled last year to Wimbledon from their small home town of Fulnek, around 6,000 inhabitants in the far east of the Czech Republic, only to see their daughter lose in the semifinal against Serena Williams.‘My wife said we should stay at home so we wouldn’t change her luck. But to see your daughter with your own eyes at Wimbledon ...’
“We agreed beforehand with Petra that we would not go to Wimbledon for the semi-finals,” father Jiří Kvita told Friday’s edition of the daily Sport. “When she was a youngster, we used to keep to the same rituals. When everything went well and she won, we’d keep to the same clothes and that sort of thing,” he added.
But Kvitová’s parents are on the way to Wimbledom for Saturday’s final. “My wife said we should stay at home so we wouldn’t change her luck. But to see your daughter with your own eyes in a Wimbledon final ...” commented Kvita.
More courageous
Besides luck, Kvitová puts her fast progress this year up the rankings to her confidence to go all out and attempt to hit winners on big crucial points, even when she faces a break-point. Before, she says, she played too cautiously. With her heavy ground strokes well honed and picking out the corners, that strategy has paid off so far.
Kvitová’ parents, two brothers, and hundreds of thousands of Czech will be watching to see if her fairytale Wimbledon will be crowned with success on Saturday.
