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Kvitova puts in the hard yards in Turkey


 

Originally published on: 12/04/12 09:44

Petra Kvitova is hoping that a mid-campaign training block in Turkey will put her season back on track. The Wimbledon champion, who has won only one match in the last two months, has spent two weeks in the Mediterranean town of Belek in preparation for the clay-court season.
 
After reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January Kvitova had her schedule interrupted by illness. She returned to play in Indian Wells and Miami but made early exits to Christina McHale and Venus Williams.
 
“I need to improve my fitness part a lot,” the 22-year-old Czech said. “I have a lot of space to improve every part of my fitness and after illness in February I needed to take this step. I am trying to get faster and stronger. We are running a lot in the sand, long distance too, doing some hill running and also we spend a lot of time in gym. I am exhausted every evening, but hopefully it’s worth it.”
 
The training regime has not left much time for hitting balls. Kvitova explained: “In the morning we have a relaxed breakfast and then around 11am we start the first section – running in the sand, sometimes working with medicine balls or training in the gym with weights. Then we have lunch and rest for three hours. Around 4pm we start training again – mostly long-distance – and then I can play tennis finally.”
 
She added: “If I want to win good matches and the close matches with the best players, I have to be fit. The matches can be decided by very small things and one of these is fitness. I need to reach more balls and be able to play longer matches to stay at the top of the sport.”
 
Kvitova will play in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome before ending the clay-court season at the French Open. Before that, however, she will be in Ostrava for the Czech Republic’s tie against Italy in the Fed Cup’s World Group semi-finals.

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.