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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN


February 20, 2013


Petra Kvitova


DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

P. KVITOVA/A. Ivanovic
7‑5, 7‑6


THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  That was a high‑level match today.  You start off pretty well and fall off.  I saw the entire match.  What happened then?  Because you had more troubles for the serve, I think.
PETRA KVITOVA:  Well, yeah, I mean, I start pretty well and how you said it was very good match from both of us.  I mean, I started like without a mistake and everything.  So I thought that it can't be like this all match.
Then Ana tried to play quite aggressively, and then I had some trouble.  So she came back.  She served quite well.  And, yeah, how you said already, my serve wasn't that good as before, and that was a little bit trouble on my game.

Q.  Must be very good for confidence to get through these kind of tight sets like this.
PETRA KVITOVA:  Yeah, I think so.  I mean, then I had two breaks in the second, and I didn't hold my serve.  So it was quite tough for my nerves, too.
Yeah, I played quite well in the tiebreak.  The first set when I was up was quite tight in the end, so I'm glad that I did it in the end.

Q.  She's obviously trying to get back to her best level.  She says that she's getting closer and closer to that.  How would you evaluate her level right now?  Do you think she could be candidate for the top 8 end of the season the way she played tonight?
PETRA KVITOVA:  Well, that's a tough question, because I think in the top it's a lot of players who can finish being in the top 8 and top 10.
But I think definitely she's coming back.  She's very dangerous player for us.

Q.  Serena in Doha said that some of your shots on your forehand side were just unreturnable, and she said no one on the WTA Tour could return it.  Ana has just said the same.  I mean, how much confidence does that give you that a ball comes on one wing on a fast court and you have the shot which seemingly no one else has?
PETRA KVITOVA:  That's nice to hear it, anyway.  But, yeah, I mean, Doha match I played against Serena was very good, and that's ‑‑I'm glad that she said it, for sure.
Yeah, I think from the forehand that it's my game that I can thinking about and going for every point for 100% and to have winners from the side.
I'm really glad that it's working sometimes.  Of course I wish to improve also, because I have a space what I can improve then.

Q.  Speaking of Serena, I assume you've caught up with the news that she's withdrawn?
PETRA KVITOVA:  Who withdraw?

Q.  Serena.  Serena is out with a back injury.  With that in mind and given the impeccable form you're showing here in Dubai, does that give you I guess a bit of extra confidence to think you can go all the way without the top two seeds here?
PETRA KVITOVA:  Well, I don't think so.  I mean, of course it's bad luck for the tournament that the first two players withdrew, and that's something for nobody likes.
And for me, like personally, I really don't care.  I mean, I see the next match and that's important for me right now.   It's always like about the next match.

Q.  Speaking of the next match, it's the defending champ, Agnieszka.  How does that shape up?
PETRA KVITOVA:  Yeah, I think it will be very tough match, for sure.  She likes to play here.  She won last year.
I played her last time Istanbul, and I lost to her.  I'm looking for revenge, for sure.
You know, she's really smart player.  She's thinking a lot on the court, so she knows exactly what she has to play and where I will play.
I have to play my game and not have a lot of mistakes, but is very like tough if she's putting every ball back to me.  So I have to play my aggressive game and going for the volleys, I think.

Q.  Just in terms of where your game is at at the moment, particularly the last two matches, you're in impeccable form.  Can you put that into some form of context or perspective?  Do you feel you have improved since Doha?  How does it compare to maybe your best year when you won Wimbledon or last year?  Do you feel you're at the top of your game, or is there still improvement to come?
PETRA KVITOVA:  Well, I think that when I won the Wimbledon, it was my highest level.  It's pretty tough to reach it again.
I'm not thinking like this.  I feel very confident on the court.  I feel the balls.  My movement is quite good.  Mental side, it's okay, too.
So I don't thinking like where is my level right now.  I know that I have a space what I can improve, but it's good news for me and for my coaches.
That's always important to know, and of course that I can really improve everything.  I hope that it's not my highest level right now.

Q.  You mentioned the other day in your press conference that you're feeling fitter probably than you ever have with your new fitness coach.  Do you still see that as being an advantage, like you're running around the court a lot smoother and quicker and recovering quicker maybe?  Would you say that's a marked difference to previously?
PETRA KVITOVA:  You know, I never be really sprinter on the court.  So that's one of the things what I will never be best in this, for sure.
But I can improve still, and I know that my movement, it's a little bit better to the sides but I have to still going for the shorter shots to the court.
I mean, I think that it's everything together when I am a little bit stronger muscles in my legs, and then I can be quicker somewhere.  It's everything like together.  So I feel quite good.

Q.  A question about Barbora Strycova, did you talk to her or do you know how she feels?
PETRA KVITOVA:  No, I didn't talk to her.

Q.  You're not friends of any kind?
PETRA KVITOVA:  We are, we are, but I didn't talk about that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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