MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA) – “For me Olympic Games are very important … it’s like a fifth Grand Slam. I really wanted to be part of it this year,” says World number nine Petra Kvitova.
Despite speculation that the Games could be cancelled due to the pandemic, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday that Japan remained determined to stage the Olympics.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova told reporters “First of all, I hope that the Olympics really will happen.”
The Czech player, who is a former World number two, took home the women’s singles bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics and shares the experience of representing her nation in the multi-sport extravaganza. “It’s just different because you are playing for your country and you have the support from your fellow athletes, your colleagues from Czech.”
“We had three medallists. The other athletes always came to us and watched us and supported us…I hope it will be very, very similar in Tokyo,”she says.
