WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES – REFLECTIONS FROM STUTTGART TENNIS FROM THE WORLD FAMOUS “GLOBAL CHICK”

Written by: Global Chick on 22nd April 2015

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES - REFLECTIONS FROM STUTTGART TENNIS FROM THE WORLD FAMOUS "GLOBAL CHICK" |

Just 365 little days but the difference was noticeable when Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova took to the little stage in Stuttgart at this year’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Last year players sat around a round table as we asked them questions, and fresh off a breakthrough year, and still adjusting to the attention, Halep delivered her steady dialogue with nary a pause for breathe while Kvitova seemed guarded, perhaps only really relaxing a few months down the line after she won her second Wimbledon title.

By contrast this year, the pair seemed relaxed and ready for the start of the new clay court season, in a weekend dominated by Fed Cup results and in some cases the secret of a good handshake.

Halep had opted not to travel to Canada because quite rightly she has a stack of points to defend in the coming month, and having played her part in the home tie (with a lot of pressure on her), she left it to team-mate Alexandra Dulgheru to ultimately steal the limelight.

When asked about the infamous (lack of) handshake, she said: “I was very surprised. It’s not my style, I can’t do that ever. So, it’s really tough to comment. But if she decided to do that it’s up to here. If that gives her a good feeling, it’s okay. I cannot comment bad words about that.

She did however have to laugh as she agreed that probably gave Dulgheru a little extra motivation! But after admitting that she felt stressed before about all the obligations that befall they who riseth up the rankings, she sure has a handle on it now.

“I’m used to this. I have this already two years doing many things off court. It’s okay and I just had to adapt myself to these things and just relaxing myself because in the past I was very stressed to speak with you (laughs) and to everyone. So, now I feel more relaxed.”

Perhaps even more surprising was the extent to which Petra Kvitova opened up about taking two months off the tour altogether, making a winning come-back for the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup semi-final.

She explained: ”In the beginning of the season it was okay but in Sydney I started to feel these weird symptoms that I was playing but I didn’t really feel any excitement and it was really tough for me. I was feeling like empty. And I won a match 6:4 in the quarter final and I didn’t have any feelings, I wasn’t really happy, I just was ‘okay, good, semi-final tomorrow’, and I started to talk with my coach, with David, and tried to explain what it is.

“He said that he sees a little bit the same as me what is inside. He knows me well, so, I didn’t have to explain that much but it was really difficult. It didn’t help in Melbourne and Dubai, Doha it’s nothing to say about. So, I’m glad that I took the break and had a nice time. I didn’t think about tennis.”

Fed Cup was just the job to get her eased back into the routine, and there is a lot to be said for being in a kind of fostering environment when coming back.

“It’s not about me but about the team and we have a great team spirit as well. So all week when we’re getting ready for the week it’s really a lot of fun and we’re not getting bored at all (laughs) and if we have a little bit of time we go for a coffee with the girls. So, it’s a little bit relaxing. But on the other side the weekend is coming and playing in front of the home crowd is always exciting but very nervous as well. And this combination is good for me because I like it. I like the challenges.

“Ostrava is almost my home town. So, a lot of friends came there to support. That’s something really unusual because we are not really playing in Czech Republic otherwise. So, for us it’s very nice.”

To hear her joking about her boyfriend’s ice hockey injuries, to how she is a hopeless cook and would rather order in, you can see how the two months off restored some sense of perspective to an essentially quite shy player. After describing after the past four year carousel of hotels and tournaments had dragged her down, she could laugh about hitting the beach and not feeling at all guilty.

“I didn’t have really proper holidays. So, for me it was just nice to lie on the beach and get a little bit of a sun tan. So, it was nice actually. I’m really glad that I’ve been somewhere and not really in the same environment all the time.”

She takes on Madison Brengle in the opener, where the tournament has already seen two seeds go by the wayside in the first two days, while Halep closes out Wednesday’s action. Either way it feels as though both have turned a corner in terms of feeling more comfortable with where they are.

Topics: global chick, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

April 22, 2015 at 12:51 pm

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES – REFLECTIONS FROM #STUTTGART #TENNIS FROM THE WORLD FAMOUS GLOBAL CHICK http://t.co/Q2DnKkjv50 #WTAStuttgart