PARIS — Petra Kvitova stood wide-eyed and perfectly still, scarcely believing she was through to her first French Open quarterfinal in eight years after winning against Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-4 on Monday.
When the chair umpire climbed down and pointed to the mark confirming her two-handed backhand landed just in, she released her emotions. The seventh-seeded Czech player looked up in the air, then blew kisses and waved to the small crowd gathered on Court Philippe Chatrier, the tournament's main stadium.
"Yeah, I got a bit emotional last two points of my match," she said. “My memories, happy memories.