Wimbledon 2014 : ‘This means more than 2011 victory’

London: Petra Kvitova insists winning Wimbledon for the second time was such a sweet success that even becoming the world number one couldn’t be more fulfilling. Kvitova ended three years of underachievement as she powered to her second Grand Slam title with a ruthless 6-3, 6-0 thrashing of Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard in Saturday’s final.The 24-year-old had endured a difficult time since her first major triumph at Wimbledon in 2011, with the expectations created by that breakthrough victory against Maria Sharapova proving a huge burden for the shy Czech.

She had failed to make it back to a Grand Slam final until this weekend, but all her pent up anger and frustration was taken out on 13th seed Bouchard in the quickest Wimbledon women’s final for 31 years.Kvitova will rise to fourth in the world rankings next week, but asked if she would now set her sights on replacing Serena Williams as the number one, she made it clear that ending her wait for another major title at her favourite Grand Slam was more than enough for now.

“I was pretty close to No. 1 before and I feel this is something more special, to have this Grand Slam, especially Wimbledon,” she said.“Of course the No. 1 means a lot to everyone. We’ll see what the future holds. For me, I’m just glad that I have this Grand Slam.“I was really up and down after my title here in 2011. I wasn’t really imagining this situation again. I still believed I could win another Grand Slam, but it was hard to imagine at Wimbledon because I wanted it so much.“It was certainly a great journey for me here.”

When Kvitova last won Wimbledon she seems posed to dominate the women’s tour with her potent power game.But instead she felt uncomfortable in the spotlight and regularly crashed out of the Grand Slams in the early stages.Those barren years made this emphatic victory even more memorable than her first Wimbledon and Kvitova was reduced to tears as the magnitude of her achievement sunk in. “This means more than 2011 because I really played a great tournament this time,” Kvitova said.

Kvitova’s victory was also a perfect present for father Jiri, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday and crying as he hugged his daughter in the players’ box.“My dad is very emotional. It’s nothing new! I was crying as well.I’m just glad he has a nice present,” Kvitova said.