It would be tempting for Petra Kvitova to dwell on what might have been as she prepares for what will be her last tournament before she retires from tennis. For all her many achievements – she won two Wimbledon titles, 31 tournaments worldwide and reached world No 2 – there has long been a feeling that she could, maybe should, have won even more. Martina Navratilova, her fellow Czech who won Wimbledon a record nine times, said she felt Kvitova could go on to win it five times. But like Rafael Nadal, who always found a way to put things in perspective, Kvitova heads into retirement content that she has given absolutely everything she had.
“It’s my personality, probably, that I didn’t win more,” Kvitova, 35, says on the eve of the US Open. “I think I had a talent. Maybe I could work a little bit more, but then, on the other hand, I think maybe it will kill my talent or my mentality.
