Kvitova Claims Olympic Bronze Medal

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – A day after missing out on the final, No.11 seed Petra Kvitova found redemption at the Olympic tennis event to claim the bronze medal with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 win over Madison Keys.

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Despite a painful loss against Monica Puig in the semifinals yesterday, Kvitova in her country’s colors always finds another gear and her inspired performance brought home her first Olympic medal and the Czech Republic’s third medal overall in the 2016 Games.

“I’m still a bit emotional, so if I cry, sorry,” Kvitova said afterwards. “It means almost everything, definitely. Having a medal from the Olympics is one of the best things that’s happened in my career definitely, along with the two Wimbledon titles and winning Fed Cups and WTA.

“It’s definitely one of the best days today. I hope I’m going to celebrate it. I’m very proud that I could bring it to the Czech Republic.”

The match between the two big hitters was ultimately decided by a handful of points where Kvitova proved to play a tidier game than her younger counterpart. She struck 12 winners and 38 unforced errors to Keys’ 24 and 49.

Keys and Kvitova traded blows throughout the tightly drawn opening set. Where Keys was aggressive on the return to bring up a break point at 2-2 and painting a backhand down the line right onto the line just out of reach, Kvitova replied in kind with a gutsy mid-rally drop shot to see away the American’s chance.

An injection of pace from Keys brought up break points for a chance at the opening set at 5-4, but she let two slip by as Kvitova’s clutch serving bailed her out of trouble. Kvitova leveled it up, aided by a pair of backhand unforced errors from Keys, and rallied to take the first set.

Keys’ frustration visibly mounted with every missed opportunity – in her last match she was 0 for ten in break point chances against Angelique Kerber, and on Saturday the stretch continued another six opportunities went unanswered across the first and second sets.

The American got another chance as Kvitova’s first serve numbers had dipped considerably – from 73% in the first set to 54% in the second – and Keys pounced on the opportunity to finally get her first break and create a 4-2 lead. She quickly it carved up to take the second set 6-2.

But the tortuous match had another turn left as Kvitova’s rock-solid net work brought up an immediate break in the opening game of the deciding set. The Czech dodged break points of her own and got another lead for 4-0.

A nervy final game from Kvitova – which included a double fault at deuce after being up 40-0 – extended the American’s stay in the match, but Kvitova shut the door on her fourth try to claim the singles bronze medal for the Czech Republic.