Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova celebrates her win over Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens during Wimbledon first round match on Tuesday. (AFP)
DPA/London
Roger Federer is well-accustomed to home life during the Wimbledon fortnight, with the second seed and seven-time champion revealing he pitches in with such mundane tasks as keeping his family’s expansive rented accommodations clean.
While not disclosing the exact nature of his “chores”, the world number two said that living in a home environment - especially now with a family of four children - is key during the grass-court summer stop in SW19.
“Sometimes, of course,” he said by way of description. “It’s just part of the grind, you know.”
Hotels long ago fell into disfavour with players, who will do anything to beat the tiresome London commute down to Wimbledon.
“I’ve done it (stayed close to the club) probably now for, I don’t know, 13, 14 years now, staying around the village,” the 33-year-old said. “I used to stay in a bed and breakfast. I used to stay with a family, just in one room.
“I had a flat, then a house. The last 10 years or so I had probably a house. As the entourage grew and the family grew, we needed bigger.”
But with wife, children, an assortment of nannies plus coaches, parents, physios etc, logistics are no simple task for Team Federer these days.
“The bigger it (the house) is, the more problems you have as well because you need to clean more and you need to do more things, so you need to get organised in a different way.
“But it’s good fun. I think most of the players do it because we don’t have to beat traffic every day. Losing one and a half to two hours every day, if you want to stay in the city centre, is not something people would want to do for three straight weeks.
“Maybe a week here or there, no problem, like the way I do it in Istanbul, the way I do it in Shanghai. You don’t want to have it too many weeks in a row otherwise it beats you up a bit.
“I think that’s another reason why people enjoy staying in the village around here.”
Kvitova handlers work to tweak Czech’s vanilla
The dream of turning Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova into more of a household name in certain markets has begun, with the shy, quiet Czech a challenge to the most able of marketers.
Kvitova is content to go about her business on court, speaking when required to media but staying well out of the international spotlight.
But while the 25-year-old may be known to hardcore tennis fans, her profile anywhere else is as low-key as can be imagined. Now a new team of handlers is starting the project to try and lift her image.
The strategy seems to be to turn Kvitova into the tennis version of the “girl next door” as opposed to the edgy sex appeal of players such as Maria Sharapova, Eugenie Bouchard or Caroline Wozniacki.
“We believe she has great potential to become a successful global brand and commercial property,” her agent Marijn Bal of IMG told the BBC. “We have got to look at the personality, she is totally different from a Maria Sharapova or a Genie Bouchard.
“Those girls are a little bit more outgoing, Petra is more humble, she is like the girl next door, approachable. I am not saying the others are not like that, but they are all different personalities.”
Kvitova said she wants to remain ‘Petra from Fulnek’: “I’m a simple girl from a simple background and I think fans have appreciated my authenticity. What you see is definitely what you get with me. I don’t pretend to be any different just because I win tennis matches, so hopefully brands appreciate my approach and my likeability, because it’s who I am.”
One of the first clients to try with the Grand Slam champion is an unknown Californian watch firm, Ritmo Mundo.
The Kvitova team hopes to add to that starting portfolio as they work to build out her brand in what are considered her key markets: the Czech Republic and the Far East, where much of the current WTA focus lies.
