WIMBLDON – Peter Kvitov has extensive experience working on the grass courts of Wimbledon. After all, she is a two-time All England Club champion.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy for her when she goes out on the green courts in south-west London.
She said she was nervous when she came to Wimbledon, and showed some of those nerves on Thursday when she beat Ana Bogdan 6-1, 7-6 (5).
It was an easy win, but the second set was not easy.
Kvitova was leading 5-1 when Bogdan started to fight back game after game. Then Kvitova had a match point during the serve with a score of 5-4, but failed to realize this chance, and then the game itself, which eventually led to a tie-break.
“Especially a few games on my serve, they were very long games and very difficult mentally,” said Kvitova, who sat at number 25. “I think maybe even that took away the energy in my feed and I just couldn’t do it.”
Eventually she still pulled it off, as she had done many times in the past at Wimbledon. She won her first title in 2011 and added a second in 2014. But in 2016, she was attacked at her home and she was stabbed while playing with her left hand. She later underwent surgery and took more than five months to recover.
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Last week she won the fifth title of her career on the grass at a tournament in Eastbourne, England.
This should have given her a lot of confidence before participating in this tournament and in this match.
“Somehow I succeeded,” Kvitova said in court. “I don’t know how, but I did it.”
Next, Kvitova will meet with Pavel Bados. The Spaniard, seeded fourth, defeated Irina Bara 6-3, 6-2.
Caroline Pliskova under number six, who reached the Wimbledon final last year, was eliminated on Central Court. The Czech player lost to Britain’s Katie Boulter, who received a wildcard 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
The 25-year-old Boulter also beat Plishkova last week in a warm-up tournament in Eastbourne and won the top 10. In the final set, she snatched the lead 5-4 and realized her first match point, winning a volley.
In the next round, Boulter will meet Harmony Tan. Tan knocked out seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams in the first round and then beat seeded Sarah Sorribes Torma 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday.
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In the men’s draw Nick Kirgias advanced to the third round for the sixth time in eight matches at Wimbledon. The unsown Australian, who reached the quarterfinals of the All England Club in his debut in 2014, defeated the 26th Philip Krainovich 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.
It was a much easier match than in the first round when Kyrgyas was brought to five sets by Briton Paul Jabb.
“The move abroad in the first round was massive,” Kyrgyas said. “Today I was like in my zone. I just wanted to remind everyone that I’m pretty good. ”
Next, Kyrgyos will meet with Stefanos Tsitsipas. The fourth seeded Greek beat Jordan Thompson on court number 1 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.
Tsitsipas will play in the third round at the All England Club for the first time since 2018. He lost in the first round in the past and in 2019. His best result at Wimbledon was reaching the fourth round in 2018.
11 Taylor Fitz from the United States also advanced, along with No. 21 Bottic van de Zandshulp from the Netherlands and Richard Gasquet from France.
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No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain withdrew from the tournament after a positive test at COVID-19. He was to play Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia.
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