"I think the umpire robbed me of a point" - Petra Kvitova on losing tiebreaker during Wimbledon opener
Petra Kvitova had to dig deep for her first-round Wimbledon Championships victory over Jasmine Paolini. The Czech, who looked poised for an easy win, was pushed to three sets before eventually prevailing 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1.
While discussing her performance in an interview with iSport.cz, Kvitova conceded that she went into the match hoping to spend much lesser time on the court.
Addressing the second-set tiebreaker, Kvitova said things slipped out of her hands quickly. She also highlighted a particular point midway through the tiebreaker, where the chair umpire ruled for them to replay a point after a successful challenge, saying she felt like she had been "robbed" of the point.
"Sure, I wanted to win the match faster," Petra Kvitova said. "But I couldn't break her in the second set. The tiebreak slipped through my fingers. I think the referee robbed me of a point, which was not nice. At least I entered the third set well and finished it faster."
Notably, a linesperson's call on a Kvitova return had prompted her to challenge the decision. The deep return, which had forced Paolini to mistime her shot had, in fact, landed on the line.
Kvitova argued that since her opponent missed the ball before the linesperson's call had been made, she should have been awarded the point. The chair umpire, however, disagreed and asked the players to replay the point. Paolini then went on take the tiebreaker 7-5 to force a decider.
"I was pleasantly surprised when they moved our match" - Petra Kvitova on playing on Wimbledon Center Court
Petra Kvitova also addressed the long rain-induced delay that pushed her Wimbledon match by over 48 hours. Orginally scheduled to play on Court 2 on Tuesday, Kvitova only stepped out under the Center Court floodlights late on Wednesday.
Speaking of the same, the two-time Wimbledon champion said she tried to stay calm through the period and even slept in the dressing room.
"I stayed calm, I slept in the dressing room," Petra Kvitova said. "Only then did they call me that I would most likely go to the center. Suddenly, everything sped up and preparations started. I'm glad it occurred to me. Even on the court, I kept repeating to myself: The main thing is that I'm playing!"
The Czech went on to add that while she was pleasantly surprised when her match moved to the Center Court, she was mostly glad that she will be able to play at all.
"I was pleasantly surprised when they moved our match to the Center Court," she continued. "But I was mostly glad that the match would take place."