US Open: Favourite Petra Kvitova travels to New York battered

Petra Kvitova is considered one of the favourites for the title at the US Open. But the two-time Wimbledon winner from the Czech Republic travels from New Haven to New York after her injury-related task in the quarter-finals.

At the beginning of the week, Petra Kvitova had every reason to laugh during the shooting. The left-hander, one of the most popular players on the WTA tour, was the focus of a funny video explaining the purpose of the shot clock. Or should one say: In which the introduction of this stress component is discreetly taken into account…

In the successful clip Julia Görges is to be seen as a strict instructor – and just the sometimes quite phlegmatic acting Kvitova before the serve. Quasi as a personified and powerful reason for the invention of the shot clock.

A few days later the face of the 28-year-old has darkened a little. Kvitova, the most successful player in these statistics in 2018 with 42 match wins behind industry leader Simona Halep (44 wins), had to give up her quarter-final against Carla Suarez Navarro after the first set (3:6) due to injury on the left shoulder at the tournament in New Haven/Connecticut.

“I felt it in the match before. And then today I couldn’t serve the way I wanted. The speed of my serve was really not high,” said Kvitova, who had already won the $799,000 event three times this time.

At the US Open, the fourth and last Grand Slam tournament of the season, the fifth in the world rankings had reached the quarter-finals twice so far (2015 and 2017). But your start in Flushing Meadows is probably not in danger.

In New Haven, Spain’s Suarez-Navarro will face Olympic champion Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) in the semi-final on Friday, who defeated France’s second-placed Caroline Garcia 7-5, 1-6, 6-2. The first semi-final duel will be played from 3 p.m. local time (9 p.m. / CEST) Wimbledon semi-finalist Julia Görges (Bad Oldesloe/No. 5) and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.