Petra Kvitova withdraws from the WTA Championships at Istanbul – Tennis News
World number six, Petra Kvitova from Czech Republic, has stepped down from the duty of defending the WTA Championships title at Istanbul. She has withdrawn from the event due to viral illness and the news has been authorized by
the tournament officials. World number nine, Samantha Stosur, will be her replacement in the competition who will at least contest two matches against the Italian number one, Sara Errani, and the 25-year-old Russian blonde, Maria Sharapova.
On Tuesday, the Czech superstar didn’t play at her full potential against the fourth ranked Pole star, Agnieszka Radwanska, who thrashed her in straight sets. However in a post-match interview, there were no signs of any withdrawal
from Kvitova as she said, “The nerves were there, for sure - I was nervous the whole match. My fingers and my legs weren't moving. I'm disappointed in myself. I made a lot of errors in the match today; it wasn't good tennis from my side. But it's the WTA Championships,
and I have another chance.”
Unfortunately for the 22-year-old Czech, there will be no more chances and she will be heading back to her hometown soon. It is a disastrous end to such a promising campaign for the former Wimbledon Champion. It will hurt her for
quite a long time especially during the holidays that will last until the start of the new season in January.
The 28-year-old Aussie star, Samantha Stosur, wanted to play the event and has been granted an opportunity to do so courtesy Kvitova’s retirement. She might be able to play better tennis than the Czech who committed whopping 41
unforced errors that was completely uncharacteristic of her. At the start of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Stosur said, “Playing a match in Istanbul means someone will have to get injured, so we just have to go there and prepare to play, and if we get one it's
a bonus. But I hope I do get a match there.” Now that she has been awarded an opportunity to possibly make it to the semis of the tournament, it will be interesting to see if she can live up to the expectations.
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