French Open: Petra Kvitova wins first match after return from injury
PARIS - For Petra Kvitova, one of the first signs her recovery was heading in the right direction after sustaining left-hand knife wounds when fighting off an intruder in her home last December was when she received the nod to have a manicure.
Seriously, it might seem crazy and trivial, but Kvitova loves her manicures. And not being able to polish her swollen, injured fingers was “terrible,” as she smilingly put it after winning her first match back 6-3, 6-2 over American Julia Boserup.
The 15th seed donned perky red nail polish for her return to tennis after six months away, and according to her publicist Katie Spellman the only thing to betray her perfectly coiffed left hand would be a glimpse to the underside of her fingers where scars remain as a reminder of the ordeal she went through.
But Sunday was not a day to reflect on harsh realities. It was a moment to celebrate, which was magnified when she put forth an impressive performance throughout her 1 hour, 14 minutes on court. In the first set she established a 4-1 lead, and in the second set she went ahead 4-2 to find passage into the second round.
Most delighted were her family and friends - her parents, two brothers, new coach Jiri Vanek, and best friend and fellow player Lucie Hradecka - were all courtside. Many of the team who sat in the player’s box donned the same black t-shirts emblazoned across the front with the slogan “Courage, Belief Pojd!” - the latter is Czech for “Come On,” a frequent utterance by Kvitova in the heat of battle. The spelling of Pojd was creative, however, with the letter “o” replaced by a red heart. On the left-hand sleeve every member of the entourage had their own names printed and on their backs it said, #teampetra.
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By the time Kvitova arrived to the post-match press conference she also was wearing the designed-for-the-occasion t-shirt.
“At the time where we thought, maybe, I really could play again, we were thinking how can we do something special?” Kvitova said. “The courage and belief, that's what I probably had to have in this kind of situation. The belief and the mind, the heart, it's really important.
“So that's what we try to show everyone. I hope that it will be kind of inspiration for other people, as well,” she added.
The 27-year-old Kvitova wasn’t sure about what to expect when she finally went on court to play an official match. Would she shed tears, smile, be overwhelmed? Ahead of the match she tried to figure it out, but was unable to determine in advance how it would play out.
“Yesterday I was thinking how everything will be, and I couldn't really imagine how that's going to be,” she said. “I maybe thought that, you know, I would cry when I step on the court, but I didn't today, which actually I was happy because normally I can’t control my emotion on the court.”
In the end, the tears of joy flowed briefly when the match concluded in victory.
Kvitova truly went on court not knowing how she’d fare at playing again. There’s practice and then there’s matches, and to add to the unknown was the fact that Vanek only started working with her in December, so this would be their official debut as player-and-coach.
The obvious magnitude of the situation, coupled with the knowledge her hand might not be ready to handle the intensity of true competition, was always in the back of her mind. And she also hadn’t forgotten a vow she made to her surgeon in exchange for permission to start playing.
“I promised my doctor, who gave me green light, that if I feel pain in my hand during the match or in the practice, I'm stopping immediately,” Kvitova said.
In all, Kvitova had two challenging service games, both in the first set. In the fifth game she had to overcome facing three break points, and when serving for the set in the ninth game she required five set points to get the job done.
But as she’s been saying the past few days, this match had nothing really to do with playing tennis. It had to do with being a survivor.
“As I mentioned already, I think I came here as a winner already,” Kvitova said, smiling.