NEW YORK (AP) — Petra Kvitova looked to her right as she sat down in the U.S. Open’s main interview room for her final postmatch news conference as a professional tennis player Monday, and the two-time Wimbledon champion saw what she was hoping for.

“Tissues are here. Very good,” Kvitova said. “I’ll try to be brave.”

While speaking to reporters following a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Diane Perry in the first round at Flushing Meadows, the last tournament for Kvitova before retirement, the 35-year-old left-hander was in a good mood, smiling or laughing at some of her own answers.

The tears she shed on court right after the 52-minute defeat were no longer flowing.

Kvitova, who said she came down with a case of COVID-19 a few weeks ago and considered pulling out of the U.S. Open, hadn’t expected to

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