Petra Kvitova Cries After Winning First Czech Republic Event - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Alexander Zverev beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-3 to win the BMW Open by FWU in Munich, Germany

Joao Sousa beat Frances Tiafoe 6-4 6-4 to win the Millennium Estoril Open in Estoril, Portugal

Taro Daniel beat Malek Jaziri 7-6 (4) 6-4 to win the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open in Istanbul, Turkey

Elise Mertens beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2 7-6 (4) to win the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Mergem in Rabat, Morocco

Petra Kvitova beat Mihaela Buzarnescu 4-6 6-2 6-3 to win the J&T Banka Prague Open in Prague, Czech Republic

Irina Khromacheva beat Zheng Saisai 3-6 6-4 7-6 (5) to win the Kunming Open in Anning, China

Lukas Lacko beat Luca Vanni 4-6 7-6 (3) 6-4 to win the Glasgow Trophy in Glasgow, Scotland

Vera Lapko beat Anastasia Potapova 6-1 6-3 to win the Properties Ladies Cup in Khimki, Russia

Mackenzie McDonald beat Jordan Thompson 1-6 6-4 6-1 to win the Seoul Open Challenger in Seoul, South Korea

SAYING

“The consistency of my game has really improved. I’m mentally there and physically ready to play, so the consistency has been a good thing.” – Elise Mertens, after capturing her third title of the year.

“I’m definitely not holding the trophy I wanted this week, but there were a lot of little victories I’m very happy with.” – Ajla Tomljanovic, following her loss to Elise Mertens in the final in Morocco.

“It was closer than the score indicates.” – Alexander Zverev, following his straight-set victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber in the BMW Open.

“This is fantastic, it’s such a special win, especially coming at home. I’m so proud to win here.” – Joao Sousa, after becoming the first Portuguese player to win the Estoril Open.

“I knew how big this is for him; it would be big for me if I won. The whole country was behind him. I’m sure he felt that all week.” – Frances Tiafoe, who lost to Joao Sousa in the Estoril Open final.

“I didn’t prepare anything. It just came into my mind during the warm-up of the match because I knew my doctor and a lot of people were coming. Suddenly I got the microphone and I started to speak and everything came to my mind and I couldn’t stop crying.” – Petra Kvitova, giving her victory speech in her native tongue for the first time in her career.

“I’m obviously pretty surprised that I suddenly won an ATP (title). But I guess things like that happen.” – Taro Daniel, who beat Malik Jaziri to win the Istanbul Open.

“I thought I had things under control, but he found some holes in my game and took advantage.” – Stefanos Tsitsipas, after losing the Estoril Open semifinal to Joao Sousa 6-4 1-6 7-6 (4).

“Some important deciding points were crucial. We were feeling better in those moments, and that was the key.” – Ivan Dodig, who teamed with Rajeev Ram to win the doubles in Munich.

“The knee is OK. I’m sure I’ll see the end of the tunnel.” – Stan Wawrinka, who says he hopes to return at Rome.

SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE

In a battle of former champions, Alexander Zverev came out on top. Ranked third in the world, Zverev successfully defended his BMW Open title by defeating three-time former champion Philipp Kohlschreiber in an all-German battle. It was Zverev’s first title of the year and seventh of his career. “I had to play my best tennis to have a chance, so that is what I did,” Zverev said. “At the beginning I was struggling a little bit, and then I found my rhythm and felt very good on court.” Kohlschreiber, 13 years older than the 21-year-old champion, won in Munich in 2007, 2012 and 2016. It was his sixth final at the clay-court tournament. “Losing the final is never easy or fun, especially if you see Sascha (Zverev) driving with the car, but he deserved it,” Kohlschreiber said. “He played better this final. I think he played a really good match.”

SOUSA ON TOP

The crowd erupted into a mass sing-along chorus of celebration when Joao Sousa became the first Portuguese player to win the Estoril Open. “There are no words to describe this emotion,” Sousa said after stopping American Frances Tiafoe in the final. “The fans were fantastic all week. It was incredible. It was a dream come true. I always wanted to win here in Portugal.” Sousa broke Tiafoe in the third game of the match, then staved off three break points in the 10^th game before holding to grab the first set. Then Sousa ran off the first four games of the second set before Tiafoe finally held serve. The American fought back, but his spirited rally came too late. “He’s massive here, it’s huge that he won,” Tiafoe said of Sousa. “He played too good, too tough for me.”

SEIZES PRAGUE TITLE

Last year, Petra Kvitova was a spectator at the Prague Open, not knowing if her career would continue after having her playing hand severely cut by a home intruder. This year, Kvitova is the Prague Open champion. “I’m happy that I did it,” Kvitova said about entering this year’s event. “It was my tournament at home since everything and playing in my home club was pretty special.” Her game was also special the entire week, although she surprisingly lost the opening set against Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu. Kvitova got off a great start, taking a 4-1 lead before Buzarnescu won the next five games and the set. With the crowd cheering her on, Kvitova roared back behind her serve and powerful forehand, losing just five games in the next two sets to win her third title of the year but her first in her native Czech Republic. “Physically the body is still together. I’m not falling apart,” Kvitova said. “I feel some tightness and tiredness. But emotionally, for sure (I feel it). The final and the speech was very emotional. So probably because of that I’m pretty exhausted. But the body is OK.”

STREAK CONTINUES

Elise Mertens is on a tear and has her third title of the year to prove it. The 22-year-old Belgian extended her winning streak to 12 matches as she beat Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the final of the Rabat Grand Prix in Morocco. “You get confidence from winning this many matches, but you have to take things match by match,” Mertens said. “Every opponent is different, and every match has to be played. But I’m really happy that it’s going well so far. Winning my third title of the year feels amazing.” Mertens controlled the points and overpowered her opponent to easily take the opening set and grab a 5-3 lead in the second. That’s when Tomljanovic fought back to force a tiebreak. Mertens won five of the first six points and finally closed it out on her third match point. The Belgian has yet to lose a match on clay this season and has reached a career-high ranking of 16^th in the world.

SKIPPING MADRID

Saying she needs more time to train, Serena Williams has decided not to play in this week’s Madrid Open. A 23-time Grand Slam tournament champion, Williams returned to the tour in Indian Wells following a 14-month absence to give birth to her daughter and get married. She won Madrid in 2012 and 2013.

SNARES FIRST TITLE

Japan’s Taro Daniel won his first ATP title by defeating Malek Jaziri of Tunisia in the Istanbul Open final. “I think today was a great match, a lot of long rallies from the beginning until the end,” Daniel said as he lifted the trophy. Both Daniel, who was ranked 114^th in the world when the tournament began, and Jaziri, ranked 78^th, were competing in their first ATP final. Jaziri served for the first set at 5-4, but Daniel broke him and eventually won the first-set tiebreak 7-4. The second set was reversed, with Daniel leading 5-4, then failing to capitalize on three match points. He finally converted the fourth.

STAN RETURNING TO ROME?

Stan Wawrinka is hoping to return to the ATP World Tour at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. The 32-year-old Swiss has been recovering from a calf injury. “I lost 10 days of training due to a calf injury,” Wawrinka said. “Now I’m on a block of two weeks of training with the help of Magnus Norman. My goal is to get back to my best. I think I can do it in the long run.” Wawrinka’s last match was in Marseille, France, where he retired against Ilya Ivashka in the second set. Once ranked as high as third in the world, Wawrinka also was forced to withdraw from Indian Wells and the Miami Open. He underwent two knee surgeries last August.

STAYING HOME

A knee injury he suffered at the Monte Carlo Masters will force Marin Cilic to skip this week’s Madrid Open. “I began feeling sharp knee pain back in Monaco and while I’m eager to compete, my team and I decided the best option is to pause and focus on rehab,” Cilic wrote on Twitter. The former US Open champion was upset by Malik Jaziri in his first match in the Istanbul Open last week.

STUNNED

Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit dropped the first set before rallying to upset Venus Williams in the first round of the Madrid Open, 3-6 6-3 6-2. “I’d lost to her two times already, and so I had nothing to lose,” Kontaveit said. “I didn’t go out there feeling scared. I do feel like I can challenge anybody here, so I was feeling good to go on the court.” Williams was playing her first clay-court match of the year.

SUSPENDED

Barlaham Zuluaga Gaviria of Colombia has been suspended for three years and fined USD $5,000 for failing to cooperate with a corruption investigation. Ranked just inside the top 2,000, Zuluaga Gaviria was found guilty of not making himself available for an interview with the Tennis Integrity Unit and not providing a cellphone for forensic download. He is not allowed to compete in or attend any tournament or event organized or sanctioned by tennis’ governing bodies.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Anning: Dalila Jakupovic and Irina Khromacheva beat Guo Hanyu and Sun Xuliu 6-1 6-1

Estoril: Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie beat Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak 6-4 6-2

Glasgow: Gerald Granollers and Guillermo Olaso beat Scott Clayton and Jonny O’Mara 6-1 7-5

Istanbul: Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt beat Ben McLachlan and Nicholas Monroe 3-6 6-3 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Khimki: Olga Doroshina and Anastasiya Komardina beat Veronika Pepelyaeva and Anastasia Tikhonova 6-1 6-2

Munich: Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram beat Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya 6-3 7-5

Prague: Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke beat Mihaela Buzarnescu and Lidziya Marozaa 6-4 6-2

Rabat: Anna Blinkova and Raluca Olaru beat Georgina Garcia Perez and Fanny Stollar 6-4 6-4

Seoul: Toshihida Matsui and Frederik Nielsen beat Chen Ti and Yi Chu-Huan 6-4 7-6 (3)

SURFING

Madrid: www.madrid-open.com/