Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is relishing the prospect of a jam-packed North American schedule, starting this week in Stanford, California
Petra Kvitova
Petra Kvitova
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is relishing the prospect of a jam-packed North American schedule, starting this week in Stanford, California.
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The Czech was sidelined for six months after a knife-wielding burglar at her home left her with severe left hand injuries that threatened her career. She returned in May at the French Open, losing in the second round. After a tournament win in Birmingham, she fell in the second-round at Wimbledon as well, where she had to call for medical assistance in her three-set loss to Madison Brengle.
"I was really trying hard to play Wimbledon and suddenly I was there and I wasn't feeling the best," Kvitova said this week as she prepared to launch her Stanford campaign. "Everything together, physically, emotionally, mentally, it was just too much. The body just responded," Kvitova said.
After Wimbledon, she pulled out of a tournament in Bastad, but now she says she's healthy and ready to enjoy the rest of the season. She has booked herself for five tournaments in North America. Seeded second, Kvitova enjoyed a first-round bye and will kick off her ambitious August against Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Italian Francesca Schiavone.