Petra Kvitova: Short-Term No. 1 or Long-Term Women's Tennis Superstar?

This has been an interesting year in tennis.  

There’s the Novak Djokovic run that has seen him defeat Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, acquire his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and become the men’s world No. 1.

We saw the return of the Williams sisters at Wimbledon, only to be denied another title to add to their long list of achievements.

We also saw the anticipated comeback of Maria Sharapova to attain a second Wimbledon title seven years after she won the first one come to an abrupt straight set loss to the star of this article, Petra Kvitova.

Now, personally speaking, as I have stated in numerous of my previous articles, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and the Williams sisters are never to be counted out. I do believe that these are only temporary instances for these tennis greats. They still have some great tennis yet to play and some more titles to win. I can see Sharapova as an honorable mention in this group, as she has worked hard to regain her ranking and playing level following shoulder surgery.

I categorize these tennis players in this manner because of the tremendous skill set, perseverance, passion and determination they bring when taking the court.

Based upon how she is playing, I do believe that Petra Kvitova has great potential to one day join this distinguished group. Her mental and physical skills are being developed and honed with each match and training session.

That’s why I predict that yes, reaching No. 1 is a realistic/attainable goal for Kvitova, but she is more than a short-term No. 1; she is a long-term achiever. 

Let’s turn back the clock to earlier this year, because it‘s important in establishing the fact that she has sustainability on the tour.

Kvitova began this year at No. 28 (career best) after a somewhat rocky end to 2010, as she saw a streak of consecutive losses.  Over the course of this year, she was able to hold her own reaching the quarters of the Australian Open and the fourth round of the French. Additionally, she added titles at the Brisbane International, Paris Open and Mutua Madrid Open. Along the way, she defeated some top women like Li Na, Victoria Azarenka, Vera Zvonereva and Zheng Jie.

Then to complement her success thus far, she came into Wimbledon as the No. 8 seed, reached the finals, defeated the highly favored Maria Sharapova and moved up in the rankings to world No. 7. Sharapova played an entire tournament without dropping a set. She met Kvitova in the finals and lost two, back-to-back.

Between the end of 2010 and Wimbledon 2011, Kvitova met with defeat. But she did not let it stop her from continuing to push forward to the next event.

What we have seen of Petra Kvitova is only a glimpse of her potential. Though it is a little early to compare her to her role model/mentor, Martina Navratilova, there are similarities.

They are both left-handers, and both have a powerful serve. When they play, you can see that play-every-point-because-it’s-crucial attitude.  And just from a factual standpoint, they were both born in the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia), and Wimbledon was their first Grand Slam title.

It meant a lot to both of these ladies as Martina was present during Kvitova's winning moment at Wimbledon. It was obvious by the emotions shown on their faces.

Anything can happen, as each day is a new window of opportunity for everyone who chooses to take advantage of it.  However, continuing to train and play as she has, it does seem that a very safe prediction is the tennis world is going to be hearing the name and seeing some great tennis performances from Petra Kvitova for years to come.