Kvitova: 'I wanted to win very badly, maybe too much'

WIMBLEDON, Great Britain -- Coming into The Championships as a two-time former titlist and holding the Nature Valley Classic title in her pocket -- one of her WTA-leading five titles this year -- it was hardly a mistake by anyone to put Petra Kvitova at or near the top of their lists as a potential Wimbledon champion for 2018.

However, after crashing out in the first round to dangerous yet less experienced Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, Kvitova exited the main draw of Wimbledon on Tuesday having to deal with her third consecutive early loss in a Grand Slam tournament this season.

Following her championship-winning performance in Birmingham, Kvitova told the media that she had not been playing well in the majors because "the reason probably is I want it too much." Now, after falling to World No.50 Sasnovich at SW19, she doubled down on that theory: that the wanting is her greatest hurdle.

"Yes, again -- probably I wanted too much again," Kvitova told the press, following the match. "I just made a joke that probably I'm going to skip the Grand Slams for the next years. I will see how everything is going," Kvitova said with a smile.

"When I was kind of younger, I played better on the Grand Slams than the other tournaments," Kvitova continued. "Now is the time when I'm playing better on the other tournaments than the Grand Slams. So I make a promise that I'm going to be very patient and I'm going to try to break it again for the other side."

"That's probably how it is, of course. It's about the Grand Slams. But it's just not really working for me right now. But it's fine. I'm going to try it next time."

Kvitova leads the WTA in match victories this year, but after three Grand Slam events, she's only 2-3 in the majors for the season, falling in the first round of the Australian Open and in the third round at Roland Garros. When asked if first-round matches were a struggle for her, she joked, "I think it's the first rounds, second rounds, and third rounds, as well. After that, it's fine."

In today's match specifically, Kvitova said that she "just didn't feel well obviously. [It] was a first round. The nerves were there again. I don't know. I just tried to kind of fight with myself -- probably was the biggest opponent which I have."

"I tried," Kvitova continued. "I changed it in the second set when I got an early break. In the third, I think it was just too quickly when [Sasnovich] was on the board, and I just couldn't handle it any more."

"I probably didn't really have a clear mind. I'm kind of thinking little bit too much than I should. Of course, the hand is not moving that easily as it should be, so I'm tight. I didn't move that well either, so...I'm just trying to wait for some good timing that everything settles down."

"That happened in the second set, but it came again, and [Sasnovich] was on the board afterward. I couldn't really do anything with that. I just let her play," Kvitova determined.

"I think that she's just the kind of player who is moving around the court and putting everything back to the court with a good backhand. Yeah, when I didn't really put the pressure on her, she could just do whatever she wanted. She did great dropshots as well. I don't think I won any one of them!" Kvitova exclaimed.

Nevertheless, Kvitova has nothing to prove at Wimbledon, with two titles on her résumé, and has already demonstrated that she has an unparalled amount of heart by coming back as a force on the WTA after being attacked by a robber in her home at the end of 2016.

"I don't want to break down anyway," Kvitova stated. "As I said, I already won the biggest match of my life and career, so it was, like, more than one Grand Slam."

"Of course, I'm sad, I wanted to win very badly, maybe too much," Kvitova admitted. "[But] as I said probably in Birmingham, somewhere, that I've already had a great season so far. Everything what I'm going to win now is just the bonus. That's how I'm acting right now. I'm not acting actually," she laughed.

"I think I already won the biggest match, so that's probably why I'm smiling."