ROME – Securing her first victory since returning to tennis at the Internazionali BNL d`Italia left Petra Kvitova feeling a mix of relief and slight bewilderment.
Speaking after her 7-5, 6-1 win over Irina-Camelia Begu, Kvitova commented, “It`s a bit strange that my initial win is here.” She noted that her best performances in Rome were a decade ago (reaching the quarterfinals in 2015), adding, “I`ve never played my peak tennis here. But winning definitely feels better than losing.”
The former World No. 2 had a tough start, losing her first four matches upon her return (to Jodie Burrage in Austin, Varvara Gracheva in Indian Wells, Sofia Kenin in Miami, and Katie Volynets in Madrid). Despite this difficult sequence, Kvitova`s return to the court has been surprisingly fueled by genuine enjoyment.
“I was 95% certain I wouldn`t come back,” she stated, reflecting on her last tournament before maternity leave in Beijing in 2023. “At that point, I`d had enough of tennis. I felt like I couldn`t continue, so we decided to try for a baby. I didn`t announce anything because it wasn`t a definite plan.”
After the birth of her son, Petr, last July, the 5% possibility of returning grew stronger. Kvitova had felt frustrated by her inability to be active during pregnancy and was keen to play tennis again.
“Once I was finally able to do something after being pregnant, I played some tennis – and it felt incredibly good,” she recalled. “I was actually laughing. Every smoothly hit shot made me think, `Wowww – it`s still in there.` Maybe not in the legs yet, but the touch in the hands is sometimes excellent.”
This touch was evident against Begu, where Kvitova dropped her serve only once. This break occurred when she first tried to serve for the opening set at 5-4; she immediately responded by winning eight of the subsequent nine games. A notable point included a superb backhand down the line following a desperate defensive lob.
“I`m not as physically fit as I`d hoped, that`s for sure,” she admitted. “But even in practice, my game has been improving.”
While hitting the ball still brings Kvitova happiness, she sighed heavily when discussing the less enjoyable aspects of being a professional tennis player.
“You have to train daily, compete, and travel,” she said with a somber tone. “Those are the parts I don`t particularly enjoy… Practice, the gym, recovery sessions. I found myself thinking, `Oh my god, do I really have to do this all again?`”
Hotel rooms now feel cramped, especially with Petr starting to crawl everywhere and sleeping less. Kvitova and her husband-coach, Jiri Vanek, now prefer renting apartments, which offer more space for their son to play and a sense of being at home. However, for now, the joy of playing outweighs the grind. Kvitova is setting no specific goals or deadlines for this phase of her career.
“I`ll continue for however long I`m enjoying it,” she stated resolutely.
Kvitova is scheduled to play against No. 27 seed Ons Jabeur in the second round. Kvitova leads their head-to-head record 4-2, but this will be their first encounter on clay.
