Former Grand Slam winner Petra Kvitova says she wants to play with fans in the stadium much like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal but unlike fellow Czech player Karolina Pliskova.
With the coronavirus pandemic having forced the tennis authorities to suspend both, the men’s and women’s tennis tours, players have now been forced to play exhibition tournaments. One such competition which involved Kvitova was played in Prague where the Czech played without any fans.
And while Kvitova went on to win the title there, she wasn’t too happy playing to empty stands.
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Speaking to the Tennis Channel, Kvitova said she felt sad playing without any spectators watching that exhibition competition. She admitted while she wasn’t sure how things would be if the mainstream tennis competitions were also played without any fans in the stands, she would miss playing in front of crowds.
Kvitova said:
“I’m not really sure how it would be if we played without the fans, how we would handle it, how we would fight, how the emotions will be.”
“That’s really one thing I’m gonna miss so much, we are playing for the fans and the fans are there for us. It would be very difficult to say yes or no, I know there’s many reasons to play and many reasons not to play. But it’s a bit extreme right now, it will be a very tough decision.”
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In doing so, Kvitova has joined a chorus of a few top players who have expressed a similar view including Federer. Federer had expressed hope he could return to playing in front of fans. Interestingly, Kvitova’s own countrywoman had said something quite contrasting, almost taking on Federer’s view about playing to closed stadiums.
Pliskova had noted it wouldn’t be too different for her to playing without fans in many of the smaller tournaments she had participated in.
Even world number two Nadal had expressed his dissatisfaction about playing without any fans in the stadiums, saying he “was not okay to play without fans” but admitted there wasn’t much he could do other than adapt if the situation didn’t change.
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