‘Want to enjoy myself’: No expectations as Kvitova returns to tennis post motherhood

New Delhi: On her return to competitive tennis after embracing motherhood, former World No.2 Petra Kvitova expects to find the going tough and has no great expectations but couldn’t stay away from it either.

The Czech last played a match on WTA tour in the fall of 2023 at the China Open in Beijing, going down to Liudmila Samsonova in a second-round loss. She then planned for a baby with husband/coach Jiri Vanek.

Now after a 17-month maternity leave, with her brother Libor also in child-care duty for seven-month-old son Petr, the two-time Wimbledon champion will play against World No. 189 Jodie Burrage in the first round of the ATX Open in Texas, USA.

“You can’t imagine how it will be until you have a baby,” Kvitova said, sounding emotional. “It’s very difficult to describe,” she was quoted as saying by wtatennis.com.

“Coming from you, somebody else on this earth — you can give the life to somebody else. I think it’s … a miracle.”

During the first trimester of her pregnancy, she couldn’t pick up a racquet but began running, exercising and light hitting during the second trimester. Her son was born on July 7 of last year via the c-section that pushed back her return by three to four months.

“I don’t expect anything, basically. I’m here – that’s already a big deal for me. Sometimes I’m really surprised by myself. Like, why I did it [the comeback]? But I think I would have regretted it if I didn’t come back,” she said.

‘Missed tennis’

Kvitova turns 35 in two weeks and said she has been encouraged by the successful return of Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka last year after motherhood, and guidance from good friend Belinda Bencic.

“I’m not putting any goals on myself, I will never play as good as I was playing when I was winning tournaments. Yeah, we’ll see. I want to enjoy myself playing tennis, and I think it will take time,” she said.

“I tried to explain to everybody that I came back because I love it. I miss tennis, I love tennis itself since I was four. So I think the love for the sport took me back to tennis. I missed the hard work, the sweat, that’s why I’m here,” Kvitova said.

“I don’t know for how long, or how long I’m going to enjoy it or how my body’s going to feel. I think it will be very tough in the beginning. But we’ll see how I manage everything. We’ll see how it goes.”

 Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova returns to tennis after a 17-month maternity leave, and will play against World No. 189 Jodie Burrage in the first round of the ATX Open in Texas, USA.  Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today