Late show leaves Kvitova sleepless in Singapore

22 October 2014 09:29

Petra Kvitova complained she would normally be asleep rather than playing tennis after coming off court at nearly 1:00 am at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

The Wimbledon champion had to wait for Caroline Wozniacki's three-hour, 13 minutes win over Maria Sharapova before taking to the court after 11:00 pm -- and losing 6-2, 6-3 to Agnieszka Radwanska.

"I was watching that match actually when I was waiting. Normally I'm sleeping in this time, so it's really difficult to play," said the Czech.

"I felt a little bit tired all the match. but that's how it is. Aga (Radwanska) made me play more rallies than I probably want."

Footage of the players waiting backstage showed Radwanska on a treadmill, while Kvitova's coach bounced footballs off her head, perhaps in an attempt to keep her awake.

"It was the first time," Kvitova said of the unusual warm-up routine. "You saw (what happened) on the court then, so probably it's his fault," she added.

Radwanska said: "I warmed up three times, so I wasn't bored. But of course it's tough, especially that it's really late and we went on court pretty late.

"But I think we're all used to that. Of course for us it's both of us the same time. Of course it would be better to go on court at 7:00 pm, but sometimes those too-late matches happen."

Source: AFP