Petra Kvitova knows her preparation for Wimbledon “wasn’t perfect”, but the second seed believes she can cope with the expectation of being defending champion.
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“I think it was a really tough decision for me to miss the two big tournaments during March”.
“I was very nervous but when I was standing on the court, the people were clapping, the atmosphere was brilliant”, said the 24-year-old.
Then she started playing and in the blink of an eye she had torn shreds off her beleaguered opponent in a one-sided demolition job in which she conceded a solitary point on her serve in the final game of the match.
The powerful 25-year-old left-hander would have been relieved to have enjoyed a brief first round outing as temperatures rocketed to around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).
Wednesday is expected to see a Wimbledon record high of around 35 degrees which would require the heat index, where matches are briefly suspended, to be introduced.
The ever-present threat from Williams aside, Kvitova admitted she is far better prepared to handle the Wimbledon champion baggage than back in 2011. I’m really happy to be back on the court to play tennis, to really do what I love.
Joining Kvitova in the second round was 10th seeded German Angelique Kerber who handed compatriot Carina Witthoeft a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing.
Before this year’s championships there had not been a 6-0 6-0 scoreline – a so-called “double bagel” – in the women’s singles event for six years.
The world number two won the grass court grand slam for the second time past year by beating Eugenie Bouchard in a one-sided final.
Defending champion Petra Kvitova admits her preparation could have been better but she’s hoping a return to the stage of her greatest successes will give her mixed season some momentum.
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The world No. 2 has been absent from the tour since losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Timea Bacsinszky. The pressure, the nerves are going to be there for sure, doesn’t matter whether I was sick or not.
Stepping out on to a sun-kissed Centre Court to begin the defence of her title, the Czech confessed to feeling the butterflies churning in her stomach.
“But I feel much better than before”.
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Like Murray, Kukushkin is coached by a woman – his wife Anastasia.
