Petra Kvitova scores first title of season in Eastbourne
She hasn’t won Wimbledon in eight years. Is it too early to say this former Slam champion could make a major comeback, given her title victory at the 2022 Rothesay International Eastbourne?
No, we’re not referring to Serena Williams – who last won the grass-court major in 2016 (and also scored two doubles victories last week in Eastbourne, alongside Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur). Instead, the Czech Republic’s 32-year-old Petra Kvitova claimed her first title of 2022 following a relatively disappointing 18 months by defeating Latvia’s defending champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2.
Kvitova has shown remarkable consistency on the pro circuit, taking home Wimbledon trophies in 2011 and 2014 and reaching the Australian Open final in 2019. Despite 28 WTA titles dating back to 2009, she hadn’t won a tournament since the 2021 Qatar Total Open last March. Eastbourne, which marked her 29th championship, also saw her first grass-court victory in four full years.
“It’s beautiful to have a title,” Kvitova told WTA Insider. “It means something big is coming. It's great preparation having five matches in a row. This is unbelievable for me. This whole year I didn't have that. Hopefully, this is a boost of confidence and good feelings with myself.”
With her new title, Kvitova jumped five places in the WTA rankings on Monday to world No. 26. She kicks off her Wimbledon campaign Tuesday against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
Stefanos Tsitsipas underscores grass-game credentials
With his victory at the Mallorca Championships in Spain this past weekend, Greece’s 23-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas reminded the world he remains a strong contender at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
The current world No. 4 earned a bye into the second round, then managed to avoid top-seeded players until the final. He defeated Spain’s seasoned, fifth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the final, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7).
“People kind of doubted that I can play on grass, I think it's fair to say,” Tsitsipas said at a pre-Wimbledon press conference on Sunday. “I never doubted myself. I said – I insisted, in fact, that I can play on this surface, and it remains one of my favorite surfaces that tennis has to offer.”
He added: “I like playing on grass, probably more than on clay.”
It seems like just a matter of time before Tsitsipas wins his first major: Last year, he lost his maiden Roland Garros final to Novak Djokovic in a five-set epic that took 4 hours and 11 minutes.
Though he has yet to compete for the title at any other Grand Slam tournament, Tsitsipas did reach the Australian Open semifinals in 2019, 2021, and 2022.
Caroline Garcia tops a recovering Bianca Andreescu in Bad Homburg
Another two-time Grand Slam champion won on grass this weekend – without her usual partner by her side.
France’s Caroline Garcia, who earned the 2016 and 2022 Roland Garros’ doubles trophies alongside compatriot Kristina Mladenovic, scored her first singles title in three years at the second-ever edition of Germany’s Bad Homburg Open. She fought through an extremely tight three-set final against 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, prevailing 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4.
"It’s a crazy atmosphere here from the [first] match on Sunday [in the] first round,” Garcia said during her post-match interview. “It was packed already, something very unusual. And you were here every day. And you bring us some more energy, and it’s really, really nice to see that tennis is still a very popular sport. So thank you, everyone, for what you bring to us as player[s].”
Though she didn’t win the final, Andreescu gained serious rankings points: She climbed her way up eight spots to world No. 56. The 22-year-old Canadian continues to make progress following her six-month absence from tennis: En route to the clash with Garcia, Andreescu topped seventh-seeded Martina Trevisan in her opener and then No. 1 seed Daria Kasatkina in the quarterfinal.
Taylor Fritz tops Maxime Cressy in all-American Eastbourne final
Two top American men’s players went head-to-head at the 2022 Rothesay International Eastbourne, with world No. 14 Taylor Fritz defeating No. 59 Maxime Cressy for his second title at the ATP 250 tournament. Final score: 6-2, 6-7(7), 7-6(7).
Read more here: Take Five: Taylor Fritz, Maxime Cressy play in all-American Eastbourne final
“There is something about this place," Fritz said in his victory speech. "It is where I won my first title and when I got here on the first day this week, I felt that I was playing so much better than before. This place has a special spot in my heart.”
He added: “Going into Wimbledon, I feel good.”
Fritz, seeded 11th at Wimbledon, plays his first match Tuesday against unseeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti. The also-unseeded Cressy faces Canadian sixth-seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in his Tuesday opener.
Croatia’s Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic win consecutive titles in Mallorca
Croatian doubles partners Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic teamed up in 2021, and the titles just keep on coming.
After winning the cinch Championships at Queen’s Club on June 19, the top seeded-pair successfully defended their title at the Rothesay International Eastbourne on June 25 by defeating the Netherlands’ Matwe Middelkoop and Australia’s Luke Saville, 6-4, 6-2. Together, Mektic and Pavic have won 13 titles together in 18 months, including last year’s Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics.
"We played good in Queen's we played even better here," Mektic said following the pair’s Eastbourne win. "We're very comfortable now going into Wimbledon.”
Other notable doubles results this past week include Brazil’s Rafael Matos and Spain’s David Vega Hernandez defeating Uruguay’s Ariel Behar and Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar at the Mallorca Championships, 7-6(7), 6-7(8), 10-1. Women’s pair Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia and Magda Linette of Poland won Eastbourne in a walkover, while Japan’s Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya defeated Poland’s Alicja Rosolska and Australia’s Erin Routliffe 6-4, 6-7(7), 10-5 at the Bad Homburg Open.
