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WIMBLEDONJune 25, 2016Petra KvitovaLondon, England THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You've won here twice. Tell me what Wimbledon means to you as a tournament. PETRA KVITOVA: Definitely the most. I mean, this is something really special. You know, if you ask any other tennis player what's they want to win, they always saying Wimbledon. It was the same with me when I was a kid. It's just something that I didn't really expect, and I won it twice already, which is like the dream really came true. It's really special. The Wimbledon for me is just historic place. You just feel it from the moment you just went through the (indiscernible) and it's just great feelings. Q. What kind of form do you feel you're in coming into this one? PETRA KVITOVA: I'm hoping the good one, of course. I had a great preparation before I came to England. I asked for a wild card in Birmingham. I played Eastbourne. I played four matches, which I think is great preparation. Two of them being in Eastbourne, which I think was pretty good game from my side. I feel good. I'm healthy. That's important. I'm ready to compete. Q. Which player do you consider the favorite to win the women's tournament? PETRA KVITOVA: It's Serena. Well, definitely it is. I mean, of course, she's the biggest favorite. I think she has the best game to win it here. Q. How does it affect other players when Serena doesn't win a final, as has been the case at the last two majors? PETRA KVITOVA: I don't think that it's, like, the biggest problem on the tour. I just think that she will find the way she going to win another final someday. It's just how it is. I think if someone is playing Serena in the final, they just feel that they don't really have something to lose. Serena is always the favorite. I just think it's a little bit more relaxed from the opponent. Q. Do you think it's more of an advantage to you, because you're a Wimbledon champion, and you play somebody a little afraid of you, or it's tough because they really want to beat you? PETRA KVITOVA: I think it's tough because, of course, for me, I should be kind of confident on the grass, which I am to play on the grass. I know how well I can play on it. I think the other girl wants to play just little bit better, and they want to beat me, especially here, because they know what happen here. You can look at it for both sides. But I just feel that the opponents are really playing less with pressure. Q. Obviously the Olympics are coming up. Have you done any research at all on the Zika virus? Is it a concern for you at all? PETRA KVITOVA: We have a doctor who is coming with us to Olympic Games. He sometimes send us some information. But I'm probably not the person who read it all. I know a little bit, but I'm not that afraid of that. I definitely will go there. Q. What does it mean to you? PETRA KVITOVA: Olympic Games? Actually, it means a lot for me. Probably when I'm kind of getting older, I just recognize how much mean, the Olympic kind of medal. Of course, it's one of the biggest goals this year, with the US Open and Wimbledon definitely. For me, it's like another Grand Slam. Q. Can you describe the changes that were made to your dress. PETRA KVITOVA: The Nike dress? Q. Yes. PETRA KVITOVA: I practice in that actually, and it felt fine, before I came to England. It was just small things that just was little bit wider. They just took it together. That's it. It's not that big difference anyway. Q. They just sewed it to be tighter? PETRA KVITOVA: Yes. Easy. Q. You were saying you're healthy. You were feeling the leg the other day in Eastbourne. Have you been able to get it treated? Are you worried about it before the tournament starts? PETRA KVITOVA: It feels fine, which is the best thing I can have definitely from the Eastbourne. I get treated. It's getting looser, so that's important. It feels fine right now. I'm not that worry about right now. Q. Talk about your first‑round opponent. PETRA KVITOVA: So I'm playing Sorana. I played her first round 2010 I think here. From that time, a lot of things change, for sure. I know she's coming back to the good form she played the years ago. Definitely she's dangerous player, especially on the grass. I think she has a good game to play on the grass. She's playing really fast and aggressive. It will be very difficult. I just need to be focusing on my game. That's always important, not really thinking about the opponent. Q. What do you think is the best match you ever played here? PETRA KVITOVA: Okay, I have probably two. When I beat Venus 2014 in the third round, which I felt, like, she was the better player on the court in the first two sets and I was still somehow able to win it. And definitely in the final against Bouchard. Q. Speaking of Venus, how would you describe her career? Then Muguruza, what are your observations of what makes her so successful at this time? PETRA KVITOVA: Venus, I think that she's, you know, obviously the champion, many, many titles. I think she is just on the tour many years and she still have a passion and motivation, which is great in the time. She was struggling with the health and she was still able to play, which is amazing. I think she's really one of the best players in the history, definitely. And about Garbine, I think she's the kind of player who is playing really aggressive as well. When she have a good day, she can really play the best and beat Serena, for example, in the French Open. I think she's serving very well. We will see how everything will go for her. It's a Grand Slam champion. It's always kind of taking some time to get used to be as a champion of the Grand Slam, dealing with the pressure and other stuff. It's always difficult. We will see. Q. Is it tough after you win the first one, first Grand Slam? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, honestly, for me it was very tough. It took me a while, like a year maybe, to get somehow used to these things as the media attention, whatever it's bringing with it. I was, I think, younger, which was something new for me. I wasn't really prepare for that. You can't really prepare. It just came and you just have to deal with it. With the pressure on the court and off the court, it's not really easy. You just feel that you should win everything when you win a Grand Slam, but it's not that easy. So, yeah, it took me a while. Q. Coming into this tournament, how does your mentality compare to the tournaments you came in and won? Are you feeling the same strength coming into this? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I'm feeling mentally strong, which is probably the most important thing to play tennis in this kind of level. I think that's one of the things which I was working on it many years already. You know, sometimes it's not that easy, of course. You just have to find a way how you should prepare mentally‑wise as well. Q. Are you feeling this could be another year for you? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I always believe, of course. So I'm believing as well this time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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