Yesterday’s dominant triumph in St Petersburg saw Petra Kvitova win her second title since that horrific Christmastime knife attack in her home at in 2016.
In that time – understandably – it has been a cautious, tumultuous and emotional rollercoaster ride punctuated with much premature hype and subsequently a sense of failed promises.
In truth, such was the undoubted mental stress and significant physical effect of the attack, that a long and patchy road back was always going to be the case.
We expect too much from our sportspeople now, adoration can quickly turn to abuse.
Yes, there were highlights of course – the Birmingham win was a joy to behold – and that giant-killing run to the US Open QFs hinted that she may well have returned, but then things fizzled out quickly again come the Asian swing.
It looked again that 2018 would prove a similar struggle for the personable Czech after a crazy momentum-swinging 3 setter with Petkovic in the first round of the Oz Open. The consistency (which isn’t always there for Kvitova at the best of times) was still way off and the lack of regular recent wins all too apparent.
Sure enough though she again looks back to her best and with success like this crucially earlier in the season, we could be seeing an even stronger top ten in this fascinating women’s tour.
The roster of victims is encouraging for fans of the double Wimbledon champ, the drubbing of Ostapenko in particular is of note.
Picture from WTA Official site
| Round 32 | W | [7/W] Elena Vesnina (RUS) | 21 | 6-2 6-0 |
| Round 16 | W | Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) | 37 | 6-3 1-6 6-1 |
| Quarterfinals | W | [2] Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) | 6 | 6-0 6-2 |
| Semifinals | W | [5] Julia Goerges (GER) | 12 | 7-5 4-6 6-2 |
| Final | W | [4] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) | 10 | 6-1 6-2 |
All Things Tennis 