Petra Kvitova won the Madrid Open and cracked the Top 10, but in the lead-up for the French Open she chose a $100000 ITF Challenger in Prague instead of the Premier-level event in Rome. Kvitova reached the final of the tournament in her home Czech Republic and lost it to Slovakian world No.61 Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3 6-4, but the really bad thing is that she sustained a hip injury during the week.
I still don’t know how serious it is, but she looked all happy at the trophy ceremony and the WTA’s official website doesn’t even mention the injury. However, Kvitova was supposed to play the Brussels Ladies Open and is not in the draw any more.
A very nice thing about Kvitova’s participation at the ITF event in Prague is that she chose to play there out of loyalty for the people who had supported her since the juniors.
Talking about injuries and troubles lurking the 2011 French Open, Serena Williams’ withdrawal was soon followed by her sister Venus’. Kim Clijsters is still marked as doubtful for the French Open, although I believe she will play. If she happens to skip it, she will start preparing for grass court season and play at the Unicef Open in the Netherlands. (source: Women Who Serve, photo: sr_cranks)
What is wrong with all these girl, why are they so prone to injuries? :O They should definitely be more careful.
@ mirjana yup they should be careful….
and @ marija: kim has announced that she will be playing with a wrapped ankle and she said that she believes she can win RG 2011. Lets hope she des well at the RG 2011 and can win…
for me is very stupid to play a challenger if you’re a top ten player! also because was on the same week as premier rome event! I don’t understand!! Those events are for players out of the top 50!!!
This is ridiculous!
I agree with Brenda, it just doesn’t make any sense, and I’m suprised that she is even still allowed to play challengers. As for Kim, eather she is crazy to play with uncured injury, or (which is way more likely) her injury isn’t so serious as it was spread in public.
Omair, I saw it that she’s going to play, but she’s still in pain, hmm, is it a wise decision? Here’s what Kim says: “Everything is going well. I am hitting the ball well. I still feel a little bit of pain in the ankle, but I have a tight bandage on it and that helps me.”
As for Kvitova, I hope the injury is minor… And about her playing a challenger, I thought it was good to have some lighter tournament ahead of the French Open, to stay in shape but not exhaust herself. However, the injury appeared nevertheless.
And also, I like it that she mainly played the challenger as a favor for the people that helped her early career.
As for how she was allowed to play as a Top 10 player, that’s interesting! 🙂
I was saddened by this news. I hope that that injury is not something serious. http://www.tennisround.com
Mirjana, I’m a big Kimmie fan but think her ‘injuries’ had more to do with radiation fears.
Not that I disagree with her if that’s the case..
A few articles ago after Petra won Madrid, I mentioned that I liked how her team is strategically choosing where and when she plays. See, no use of her going to Rome after beating the elite players at Madrid – better to step away and let them continue to fear her for a while longer.
Other players didn’t really expect Petra to go all out to win the Challenger, thus her powerful win in Madrid continues to resonate in their minds.
Petra is highly focused on winning Wimby, she already has fairly recent victories over many top 10 players so she know she can beat them. Judging by her performance last Wimby, Kvitavo likes the tourney a lot. She just needs to continue to hold her form and stay FRESH.
I think it was a silly step to play here. She should rather wait and go to play tournaments with some real competition or not play at all. And now she’s not ready at all.