Kvitova out to crown emotive comeback
Petra Kvitova surged into tonight’s Australian Open women’s singles final, closing to within touching distance of the most emotive comeback story in years. Should she clear the last hurdle, expect screenwriters to be working on a script by Monday.
It is just over two years since Kvitova suffered serious damage to her racquet hand after an armed robber broke into her flat in the Czech Republic.
The injury is often described as a stabbing, although, in fact, it was Kvitova who grabbed the blade as it was being held to her throat, and yanked it away.
Kvitova’s surgeon suggested it would be a miracle if she returned to the top of the game. But she started winning lesser tournaments again in the last Northern Hemisphere spring, and is now on the verge of a third grand slam title. And if she wins today — against reigning US Open champion Naomi Osaka — Kvitova will become world No 1 for the first time.
“I think not many people believe that I can do that again — to stand on the court and play tennis on this level,” said Kvitova.
It might sound like a defiant comment but that was not how she said it. Kvitova is a gentle soul, even if she crushes tennis balls with ferocity.
“I’m not really believing that I’m in the final,” she said. “It’s kind of weird that I didn’t know even if I was going to play tennis again. It wasn’t only physically, mentally it was very tough. It took me a while to believe in the people around me again, and especially in the men.
“I wasn’t confident to be alone somewhere. I remember I was in the locker room in Prague, in the club, and I came to my team and said, ‘Well, it was the first time I was alone there, and, yeah, it was good that I really felt okay’.”
The story that most resembles Kvitova’s belongs to Monica Seles, the Yugoslavian great who dominated the game at the start of the 1990s, but was then stabbed by a crazed fan who made his way on to the court in 1993. Even though Seles never regained her former ascendancy, she did land one more cathartic slam title in 1996, at the Australian Open.
“I didn’t know that,” said Kvitova when the parallel was raised. “But it’s nice. In June, I met her [Seles] for the first time. Actually, she was the one who wanted to meet me, so it was great and a big honour.
“I know that it affected her career a lot, especially as it happened on the court. So, it’s a bit different, but it was such a nice feeling to meet someone who kind of went through the same things and thoughts and everything.”
It will take a huge effort from Osaka to keep Kvitova away from the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup tonight. Her record in finals is phenomenal: 26 wins from 33 attempts, including both her Wimbledon showpieces in 2011 and 2014.
“I love playing on the big stages,” she said.
But Osaka was exceptional in her own three-set win over another Czech, Karolina Pliskova. She is on a run of 13 straight slam victories, after lifting the US Open in September. The last woman to back up a maiden major by reaching the final of the next was Jennifer Capriati, in 2001.