Sarasota resident forges ahead on women's pro tennis tour
SARASOTA
There have been times, going back a dozen years or so, that the oldest player currently competing regularly on the women’s professional tennis tour contemplated retirement.
Just not recently.
At an age when most players are looking back on their careers, 42-year-old Kveta Peschke happily continues to forge ahead.
“Ask me again in a year,” says Kveta’s husband, Torsten, who has given up guessing about when she might stop. “I have no idea any more. As long and she enjoys it, as long as she is successful, as long as the body is not hurting too much, I think she will keep going ... I guess.”
There should be no guessing because, apparently, there is no quit in Kveta.
In a sport dominated by players barely out of their teens, Peschke, at the grand old age of 42, is an anomaly. She was in her mid-30s when she rose to No. 1 in doubles and many titles have followed.
The long-time Sarasota resident seems to be getting better as the years pass, and determined to do whatever it takes to continue to show players more than half her age how it is done.
“I am very thankful to be able to do this for so long,” Kveta Peschke said. “As long as I am enjoying it and winning and as long as kids come up and say, ‘One day I want to play like you,’ I will continue. It is one of the biggest privileges to entertain people, kids, see them smile and laugh.”
Coming off one of her most successful seasons, a year where Peschke was a semifinalist at Wimbledon, won tournaments at Prague (where Peschke was born) and Toronto and qualified for the World Championships — all with Anna-Lena Groenefeld — the Grand Dame of women’s tennis is all smiles herself as she prepares for a new year with renewed excitement and determination.
Along with the new year comes a new partner. After playing five years primarily with Groenefeld, Peschke is taking a chance by switching things up and teaming with 24-year old Nicole Melichar.
“The decision to split with Anna-Lena was a very difficult decision for Kveta because they are very good friends as well,” said Torsten Peschke, who coached both players. “It was a difficult decision to make but she explained everything to Anna-Lena.”
Through coming off one of their most successful seasons, Team Peschke knew there could be even more success. It had become evident that the Achilles’ heel for the team was the lack of an elite serve.
They talked as a team last year about the need for improvement but reviewing the 2017 season it became clear there wasn’t the development needed.
At the top level, if you are not getting better you are falling behind so it was agreed a change needed to be made. And they were able to do it while retaining the friendship that has grown over the years.
This year Peschke will team with Melichar and Groenefeld will partner with Raquel Atawo. The teams will debut on the court on Saturday when they take part in The 2017 Ladies Pro Doubles Exhibition at The Meadows Country Club.
Torsten Peschke, for one, is eager to see how the new teams look.
“What we are doing is combining some fun and entertainment but also some practice,” he said. “For me, I am already scouting. I can see what’s happening on the court and what I have to look for.
“I don’t expect them to click and perform from day one. I think we have to put a lot of work into this but I believe eventually in three or four months we can find the right formula to succeed.”
Saturday will give Torsten Peschke a benchmark to work from. And it will give spectators a chance to see four of the top doubles players in the world put on a show.
Groenefeld, with Peschke as a partner, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and earned a spot in the World Championships this past season. In 2016 she played for Germany in the Rio Olympics. Groenefeld, now 32, has also reached the Wimbledon semifinals two other times and the U.S. Open semifinals twice in women’s doubles. And she won titles in mixed doubles at Wimbledon and the French Open.
Atavo, 34, won a tournament in Stuttgart this year and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in both 2015 and 2016. She got to the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2014.
Melichar is just coming into her own. She was a winner at Nuremberg, Germany and a finalist in Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur and Moscow. She also got to the quarterfinals in mixed doubles at Wimbledon
Few have played as long or had the success over time as Peschke.
She won Wimbledon in 2011 and was No.1 in the world that year. Peschke also reached the final at French Open and was twice a semifinalist at both the U.S. Open and Australian Open in women’s doubles. She also reached final of mixed doubles at U.S. Open three times.
When it will end is anybody’s guess.
Sarasota USTA team
reaches final ... again
A team from Hillsborough County outlasted the team representing Sarasota County’s Payne Park in a third-set Super-tiebreaker to win the state title in the USTA Florida Combo 18-over 8.5 division this past weekend at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.
Michael Lenhart and Keith Robbins held off the Sarasota team of Nick Hardy and Len Belli at No. 2 doubles in the tiebreaker to win 4-6, 6-1, 1-0.
Randolph Gibson and Eric Abbott, the No. 1 team from Sarasota, beat Frank Hennessy and Patrick Earl 6-4, 6-2. At No. 2 doubles, the Hillsborough team of Rogerio Bigio and Geoffrey Jones defeated Sarasota’s Duncan Crowley and Philip Crutchfield 7-6, 6-3.
This is the third consecutive year the Sarasota team reached the final.