Petra Kvitová – on potential Olympic fame.

August 2, 2012

2011 Wimbledon Ladies Singles Champion Czech Petra Kvitová reached this year’s Wimbledon semis and is poised to continue her Olympic volley at Wimbledon Tennis Grounds today after breezing into today's quarter finals.

Can she add an Olympic medal to her growing list of tennis accolades, and achieve the one thing her heroine, Czech-born Martina Navratilova never managed?            

“She had some advice for me,” says Kvitová, of Navratilova, who famously said she would not like to play Kvitová because of her power and good mental approach. Coy about exactly the advice Navratilova provided, Kvitová acknowledges the tennis legend “has a lot of experience in her career and she is very smart.”

Modest about her own achievements to date, Kvitová says she was not prepared for the recognition that winning Wimbledon would garner: “after Wimbledon I was very big in the Czech Republic … and a lot of people recognised me in the street or in the shops and it was very strange for me. But I used to worry about how things are going right now and I know that in the street I will always be famous. I think that it is a good part of the tennis life.”

Despite her new found fame, Kvitová still takes one day at a time with her tennis: “I have small goals and it means that I want to improve every part of my game, techniques and the mentality and the fitness side and after this I can have a good result and then we will see where I will be on the rankings.”

Kvitová acknowledges that the draw can affect her game, but she says “I have a good game for grass… but it depends how the other girls play and I know that they can play very well on grass… I love to play for my country, so I will try my best.”

But playing mixed doubles as well as singles in the Olympics means she has a good shot at a medal glory, which will only increase her celebrity, not only on home turf, but also worldwide. Let’s hope she still thinks it’s a good part of the tennis life when it happens!