As if the season hadn’t been prolific in thrills and challenges, the WTA1000 Guadalajara 2022 It stands as a closure to the very special regular calendar since it forces tennis players to make an effort to adapt to such an adverse context as playing at 1,600 meters above sea level. It is well known by all that playing tennis at many meters of altitude is complicated and completely modifies the patterns of the ball and the physical demand required, as he said Peter Kvitov at a press conference. Normally, it is talked about in the Madrid tournament, where you compete at about 650 meters above sea level. Imagine what the tennis players will feel this week in an event in which the ball flies a lot and very fast, taking advantage of the low density of the air, although they try to compensate with a fairly rough surface, which seeks to slow down the environmental speed and make tennis be more playable.
If there is a tennis player who has gone through many experiences throughout her career and has displayed great versatility, that is Peter Kvitov. The Czech has been on the WTA circuit for more than a decade, but she had never faced a challenge like playing in Guadalajara. “I arrived on Wednesday of last week and the first days were terrible. I was unable to control the ball and as soon as I ran 10 meters I suffocated and had to stop. We had to do a good preparation for me to adapt to these conditions because I never I had experienced something like that. I thought that Madrid was playing at a high altitude, but because I hadn’t experienced this”, commented the Czech tennis player, who remains in the fight for the WTA Finals 2022.
The Madrid tournament is the second highest above sea level on the calendar, with about 650 m
“The ball flies through the air a lot, you have to have a lot of tact when hitting it and if you hit something late there is no room to correct; it is normal for it to go long. It is important to find a balance and the serve is decisive to be able to take the initiative. It is necessary to be prepared at all times for anything because the surface of the court is slow and slows down the pace somewhat,” said a Kvitova who claimed the fact that men do not compete in any major tournament in these conditions. Although it is true that it has been played for some years in Quito, at an even higher altitude that made it necessary to play with somewhat soft balls, it seems unimaginable that a first-level men’s event would be played at 1,600 meters above the level. “I find it curious that men don’t have to face such a challenge.”
Peter Kvitov will be measured in the second round Bianca Andreescu, in what promises to be a high-intensity duel between two women inexorable in search of the winning blow. “I have never faced her, although we have trained. She has a lot of talent and I am always excited to face rivals of her level. I know that I have to play to the fullest and the fact that we are in the last tournament of the season makes me play something more liberated because I know that if they eliminate me I can go on vacation to disconnect a little”, sentenced the Czech player, with great expectations in a WTA1000 Guadalajara 2022 that could give him the possibility, somewhat remote, of being part of the game in the WTA Finals 2022something that would be a tremendous success for her after the difficulties she went through years ago.
