Aegon Classic Birmingham: Petra Kvitova so glad to be back
Petra Kvitova marked her return to her beloved grass with a 6-2, 6-3 win over fellow Czech Tereza Smitkova at Birmingham’s Aegon Classic.
The two-time Wimbledon champion took a wildcard into the tournament after making a quicker-than-expected recovery from the serious hand injuries she suffered when she was stabbed by an intruder in December.
Kvitova made her comeback at the French Open, partly so she could focus solely on tennis when the grass season came around.
“It feels different,” she said. “I’m happy that I have everything done with the media and the pressure and everything with the comeback in Paris.
“So I’m glad that now I can focus on tennis, especially on the grass. And that’s important that I am back in reality and just playing the matches.”
Kvitova, who was due to meet Britain’s Naomi Broady at the Edgbaston Priory Club today, was content with both her performance and the condition of her hand.
The 27-year-old suffered wounds to all five fingers, with nerve damage in two of them, and is still treading carefully.
She said: “I think this first match on the grass was pretty good. I think that I served well and I played good shots from the baseline.
“I think that she served very well, especially first serve. I had good timing on the court today and I’m happy with the way I played.
“We are still worried about the hand, so we are not practising that much. We still have days off to work on my hand, and it was very good today. So I’m happy with that the most.”
