Petra Kvitova boosts Wimbledon bid with triumph in Berlin

BERLIN – Petra Kvitova boosted her status as a leading favourite for a third Wimbledon title, saying “I love grass” after sweeping past Donna Vekic in the final of the Berlin WTA grass-court tournament on Sunday.

The Czech seventh seed won 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) to clinch her second title of the season, amid question marks regarding Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina’s fitness ahead of Wimbledon.

The victory gave the 33-year-old Kvitova a sixth grass-court trophy for her 31st title overall, more than any other active player besides Venus Williams’ 49.

The Wimbledon champion in 2011 and 2014, burst out of the blocks, breaking her opponent twice in the first set.

The pair traded breaks in the second before she triumphed in a tie-break.

The world No. 9 did not drop a set on the way to winning the German Open title at the Steffi Graf Stadium in the German capital.

Moments after the countdown to lift the trophy, Kvitova told the crowd: “I’m in shock right now.

“I wasn’t sure I could count in German, but I did it in the end so I’m happy.”

Vekic praised her opponent, saying: “Your career is something we can only hope for.

“I’ve lost to you a few times and every time I lose to you, I feel like you win the tournament.”

Kvitova has now won 12 of her last 13 matches on grass, dating back to her title run in Eastbourne in 2022. She has lost just four sets over that span.

The unseeded Vekic, 26, impressed this week, defeating Rybakina on her way to her first grass-court final since 2019.

World No. 3 Rybakina pulled out of a warm-up event in Eastbourne on Monday, sparking concerns about her fitness ahead of the year’s third Grand Slam, which begins next week.

The Moscow-born Kazakh was among the favourites for the French Open but pulled out ahead of her third-round meeting with Sara Sorribes Tormo earlier in June due to a viral illness.

She said on Monday:  “I am still recovering from the virus I had in Paris and after Roland Garros it was really tough.

“I also picked up another small issue in Berlin, so my team and I decided it would be better to recover this week and prepare for Wimbledon.”

On the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz insisted Novak Djokovic remains the favourite at the All England Club despite the Spaniard returning to the top of the rankings on Monday.

He rose to No. 1 after claiming his first title on grass on Sunday by beating Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4 in the Queen’s Club final.

Alcaraz was playing on grass for just the third tournament in his career and showed an impressive development through the week at Queen’s after nearly falling to French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech in the first round.

The US Open champion won his next four matches without dropping a set and is confident of going beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.

“I have quite a lot of confidence heading into Wimbledon. I ended the week playing at a high level, so right now I feel like one of the favourites to win Wimbledon, but I have to get more experience on grass,” he said.

“I saw a statistic that Novak has won more matches at Wimbledon than the other top 20 players (combined).

“Novak is the main favourite to win Wimbledon, that’s obvious. But I will try to play at this level to have chances to beat him or make the final.”

Djokovic has reigned supreme in SW19 since 2018. He has not lost on Centre Court since losing to Andy Murray in the 2013 final.
AFP, REUTERS