The Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova insists she will beat a cold in time to face Serbia in the Fed Cup tennis final in Prague this weekend with eyes on defending the trophy.
The 22-year-old world No.8 led the Czechs to a victory over Russia in last year’s finals in Moscow that handed them their first trophy since splitting from Slovakia in 1993.
But her health has become a major concern in the run-up to the 2012 final after she pulled out of the WTA Championships in Istanbul last week with a bad cold.
“I feel better every day, I feel better today than I did yesterday and, if it goes on like this, I’ll be fit on Saturday,” said the 2011 Wimbledon champion.
Asked if she expected to play, she gave a clear “yes”.
Czech team captain Petr Pala echoed that.
“We expect her to play. We never thought she wouldn’t be playing,” he said.
Kvitova, an Australian and French Open semi-finalist this year, will team with world No.17 Lucie Safarova for the Fed Cup final to form a left-handed singles outfit.
Pala has also named Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, world numbers three and four in doubles, who played the Wimbledon, US Open and WTA Championship finals and won Olympic silver this year.
Serbia, playing their first Fed Cup final, will rely on former world No.1s Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, who are now 12th and 22nd respectively.
“They are former WTA leaders and that’s what makes them dangerous. They have experience with big arenas, big courts, big games,” said Pala.
Serbian captain Dejan Vranes has also called up Bojana Jovanovski (56) and Aleksandra Krunic (167).
Jankovic admitted that “it would give us a better opportunity” if Kvitova stayed on the bench.
“Playing her will be very tough if she’s healthy. It’s going to be a tough match. She’s a very tough left-handed player – she goes for short points,” Jankovic said.
“But this court is not that fast and the ball is a bit fluffy and the game gets a little slower … that suits us more than them,” she added after training on Prague’s hardcourt Novacrylic Ultracushion System.
The Fed Cup finals will be played in Prague’s O2 Arena with a capacity of 14,000.
The Czechs beat Italy in this year’s semi-finals, while Serbia saw off Russia.
The former Czechoslovakia won five Fed Cup titles between 1975 and 1988.