Iga Swiatek and Petra Kvitova had contrasting opening matches at Wimbledon this year, with the former winning as the latter crashed out.
Swiatek received big praise from Jessica Pegula ahead of Wimbledon, with such praise arriving after the American beat the Pole in the final of the Bad Homburg Open.
Pegula has since exited Wimbledon, with the third seed having suffered a shock defeat to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in round one.
Her fellow WTA icon Kvitova suffered the same fate, with the two-time Wimbledon champion falling to Pegula’s fellow American Emma Navarro.
Swiatek had no such difficulty in the opening round at the All England Club, where she overcame Polina Kudermetova.
Why Iga Swiatek apologised to Petra Kvitova in the Wimbledon locker room
The five-time Grand Slam champion made no mistake on Court 2, but she did in the locker room during an encounter with two-time Grand Slam winner Kvitova.
Speaking in her press conference after her victory, Swiatek said of her fellow player: “Honestly in the locker room now I saw her doing an interview and then she came to the locker room and I congratulated her because I thought she had won.
“It was embarrassing. Because I saw her doing the interview, I thought she won. So then I had to say sorry.
“But I have huge respect towards Petra. She is from Czech, so it feels like she is from a similar country to Poland and we are close.
“Many Polish players go to Czech to practice. I always feel like she is one of the examples to us, even though she is not from Poland.”
Iga Swiatek shares her honest verdict on Petra Kvitova after Wimbledon farewell
Swiatek may even feel extra guilt given that Kvitova had just played her final ever match at the grass court Grand Slam.
The champion in both 2011 and 2014, the Czech veteran will retire at the end of the US Open later this year.
Kvitova reached three Grand Slam finals in her fantastic career, during which she reached number two in the world rankings.
Now 35, she won two of those three finals, defeating Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard at SW19 before losing the 2019 Australian Open final to Naomi Osaka.
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 2011 | Wimbledon | Grass | Maria Sharapova | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 2014 | Wimbledon | Grass | Eugenie Bouchard | 6–3, 6–0 |
| Loss | 2019 | Australian Open | Hard | Naomi Osaka | 6–7(2–7), 7–5, 4–6 |
Another WTA ace in Maria Sakkari also made her thoughts clear on the 31-time career winner, when it was noted on X that Kvitova is one of the best players to never be world number one.
Sakkari, who beat Anna Blinkova in her opening match at Wimbledon, replied: “She’s number 1 as a person.”
And further sharing her verdict on the tennis legend, Swiatek added of Kvitova: “I always have huge respect to Petra.
“She achieved so much. Especially here on grass, she has a big fan base, and is well known for her victories on grass.
“I hope she is going to enjoy today and be appreciated by everyone because for sure she deserves it and she is a good person overall.”
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