Petra Kvitova went from French Open favorite to first-round survivor

PARIS—What does it take for a fast-court player to win on clay? Petra Kvitova has been answering that question all spring, as she has made the improbable transformation, at age 28, from Wimbledon specialist to late-blooming dirt-baller.

The Czech’s back-to-back titles in Prague and Madrid have made her an unlikely favorite to win her first French Open title. Even Kvitova herself, who has always been a little skeptical of her own clay-court skills, began to express some tentative belief in her chances.

“We’ll see what happens over there,” she said before setting off for Paris. Coming from Petra, that was a war cry.

It turns out that Kvitova was right not to get ahead of herself. On Monday, she was forced to answer a different but unfortunately familiar question: What does it take for a fast-court player to get out of the first round at the French Open?

By the time her opening-round dogfight with Veronica Cepede Royg had ticked past the two-hour mark, and the score was deadlocked at 5-5 in the third set on a warm and windless afternoon, Kvitova knew that it took everything she had, and maybe a little more.

Serving at 6-5, 30-30, two points from the match but also, seemingly, two points from oblivion, Kvitova pushed the South American out of position and charged the net. She hit a swing volley that barely touched caught the baseline, and then, on her last legs, she carved a perfect drop volley into the open court for a winner. All Kvitova could do was bend down and cover her face with her hands. The match wasn’t over yet, but Kvitova almost was. Still, she had just enough to close out a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 win—and make it to all the way to the second round.

“I was sweating like hell today,” Kvitova said with a smile.

More post-match comments from Petra Kvitova:

Kvitova vs. Cepede Royg will go down one this year’s finest first-rounders, a match tailor-made for the big stage and wide-open spaces of Court Philippe Chatrier. It began like a hockey game, with the 6-foot Kvitova hitting slapshots and wrist shots, and the 5’3” Cepede Royg tending goal behind the baseline. Shortening her swing, preparing as early as possible, grunting with everything she had, Cepede Royg batted everything back, until, midway through the set, she began to take control of the rallies herself.

Kvitova eventually reclaimed that control and ran away with the second set, but Cepede Royg, a stubborn competitor who reached the fourth round here last year, soon reasserted herself.

In the third set, the players settled into a war of attrition. One tough service hold was matched by another, as the two spread the court and tested each other with deft drop shots, sharp crosscourt angles and sliding gets in the corners. Finally, starting at 4-5, Kvitova went to a place where Cepede Royg, who is ranked 79 spots behind her, couldn’t follow.

Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, Kvitova fired off three aces. At 5-5, she won the best rally of the match with a spectacular crosscourt forehand. And at 6-5, 30-30, red-faced and trudging slowly between points, she came to net and carved that last winning drop volley:

“I think it was very physically tough today,” said Kvitova, who claimed the balls were “really flying” in the heat. “The last, I don’t know, four games [I was] really trying, and she did, as well.”

After barely surviving round one, should Kvitova still be a favorite to survive six more? She won’t make it without an epic two-week fight. Against Cepede Royg, Kvitova showed that she’s more than just a basher; she’s a shotmaker. Aside from her patented missiles into the corners, she used her lefty hook serve to good effect, she mixed in her drop shot beautifully and, with exquisite timing, she rushed forward to take a high-bouncing ball on the rise and place it perfectly in the corner for a backhand winner.

The problem is, Kvitova is a fast-court shotmaker, rather than a slow-court shotmaker. The dirt-baller’s safe, topspin rally ball; the change-of-pace chip; the defensive moonball; the high-percentage return are not part of her arsenal. Kvitova tries to fire back penetrating shots from all parts of the court, even when she’s stretched and on the run. I’m guessing that’s not part of the textbook at the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy.

Maybe for that reason, Kvitova says she’s keeping her expectations low in Paris.

“I did have great matches on the clay, which I’m taking very positive,” she said. “I think, like, for me this clay season it’s great, and I’m just here to have some maybe more bonuses, which I already did today.”

“So we’ll see how everything ends up. I’m just very happy happy to be in the second round right now.”

You can’t blame her for that.

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