Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, admitted that she has been inspired by the success of new athlete mothers who have returned to the WTA Tour. However, she is managing her expectations as she makes her own comeback to the sport from her maternity leave.
Turning 35 years old next month, the former World No. 2 welcomed her son Petr last July. She is set to make her return to the WTA Tour in Austin, Texas, before competing in the prestigious hardcourt tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami Open.
Motherhood in tennis
New mothers Elina Svitolina (30) and Naomi Osaka (27) have both made strong comebacks to top-level tennis after taking their time off. Moreover, Belinda Bencic impressively claimed the Abu Dhabi title earlier this month.
With this, Kvitova shared: “Those girls are pretty young still of course, I would say my age is different… But we’re used to working hard. Even after pregnancy and giving birth we know what to do and we’re willing to do it. When you already played well before, you want to be back where you belong, basically.”
She added: “Belinda and I are in touch, and it’s nice she’s playing so well. Her daughter is like 2-1/2 months older than our Petr, so that’s fun. She just showed us that it’s possible, coming back after giving birth. That’s a good sign.”
The athlete will now play against Briton Jodie Burrage on Thursday in her first match after 17 months. She admitted that it feels like a significant event.
“Sometimes I’m really surprised by myself. Like, why I did it? I would have regretted it if I didn’t come back… I’m not putting any goals on myself, I’ll never play as good as I was playing when I was winning tournaments… I want to enjoy myself playing tennis and it’ll take time,” Kvitova said.