'I was 95% that I would never come back': Kvitova posts first win of return
ROME -- After scoring the first win of her comeback at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Petra Kvitova was relieved -- and a little confused.
"It's kind of weird that my first one came here," she said after defeating Irina-Camelia Begu 7-5, 6-1.
"I've never played my best tennis here. But it feels much better than losing, that's for sure."
The last time Kvitova had won consecutive matches in Rome was a decade ago, when she reached the 2015 quarterfinals.
Rome: Draws | Scores | Order of play | Tournament info
The former World No. 2 had gone 0-4 in the first four tournaments of her return, falling to Jodie Burrage in Austin, Varvara Gracheva in Indian Wells, Sofia Kenin in Miami and Katie Volynets in Madrid -- a run of results that makes her grimace. But despite the losses, Kvitova's comeback has been underpinned by a joy that surprised even her.
"I was 95% that I would never come back," she said, recalling the last tournament before her maternity leave -- Beijing in 2023. "I had enough of tennis at that time. I was like, 'I can't do it any more,' so we decided to try for a baby. I didn't say anything because it wasn't 100%."
After her son, Petr, was born in July last year, the 5% of doubt grew. Kvitova had been frustrated at being unable to be active during her pregnancy, so she was eager to pick up a racquet again.
"When I could do something finally after pregnancy, I played some tennis -- and it felt so good," she said. "I was laughing. Every shot I hit smoothly, I was like, 'Wowwww -- it's still there.' It's not in the legs -- but in the hands, it's sometimes very good."
That was evident against Begu, during which Kvitova dropped serve just once. That came in her first attempt at serving the first set out at 5-4. She responded by rattling off eight of the last nine games. Among her highlights was a spectacular backhand down the line, struck after a desperate, scrambling lob.
"I'm not as fit as I wanted to be, for sure," she said. "But even in practices my game was going up."
While the shot-making still brings Kvitova joy, she sighs deeply when talking about everything else that comes with being a professional player.
"You have to train every day, you have to fight, you have to travel," she said, a gloomy tone entering her voice. "That's all the things that are not my favorites ... Practicing and gym and recovery stuff. I was like, 'Oh my god, really, this again?'"
Hotel rooms also seem suddenly small, now that Petr is beginning to crawl "everywhere" and sleeping less. Kvitova and Jiri Vanek, her husband and coach, now prefer to rent apartments, where their son has room to play with toys and where they feel at home. But for now, the on-court joy outweighs the grunt-work. Kvitova refuses to set any goals or impose any sort of time limit on this stage of her career.
"However long I'm going to enjoy it," she said.
Kvitova will next face No. 27 seed Ons Jabeur in the second round. She leads their overall head-to-head 4-2, though this will mark their first meeting on clay.
