WTA: Petra Kvitova to Madrid victory: “It’s like a dream”

Petra Kvitova wins and wins and wins – and this after her career-threatening injury, and still on the not too beloved sand. Does she even have a chance at the French Open in Paris?

Fourth title of the season, the first player to win the women’s competition in Madrid three times, she currently stands – thanks to the home win in Prague last week – with eleven match wins in a row. And this on sand! Double Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova as favourite at the French Open? Why not, even if after her victory in Spain the Czech first rolled her eyes on this question. “That’s crazy,” she told the WTA.

Kvitova has always been the one who is unbeatable for many when playing her best tennis. Problem: “K-Viddy”, as Brad Gilbert calls it, lacked consistency. And after the knife attack a year and a half ago, during which her left hand was badly damaged, it was already unclear whether she would be able to resume her former class. She still feels nothing in some areas, the 28-year-old explained only a few weeks ago. “I couldn’t even imagine playing tennis again then. Now I have won five titles since my return,” said Kvitova on Saturday evening. “It’s like a dream, I don’t believe it yet.”

After the physically brutal final against Kiki Bertens (Kvitova: “Such matches on sand wear you down”) Kvitova denied her start in Rome – gathering strength for Paris is the keyword. Just for the place where she returned to the tennis stage last year and directly won a match. Is there more this year for the specialist for fast rubbers? One semi-final (2012) and three round of 16 (2008, 2011, 2015) are on their leaderboards, but if the weather is good, it’s dry, hot and fast – why not? Especially since Kvitova, as she says, is physically in a better state than ever before. As far as conditions are concerned, the French Open is an annual, sometimes daily miracle bag.

A bit like Petra Kvitova herself.