Petra Kvitova wins opener in Rome for first victory since 2023

Czech Petra Kvitova won her first match since 2023, defeating Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 7-5, 6-1 in the first round at the Italian Open in Rome on Tuesday.

Once ranked as high as No. 2 in the world -- that was Oct. 31, 2011 -- she is now the No. 830 player after taking 18 months off for pregnancy and childbirth. She was 0-4 this season in her comeback before her match with Begu.

The 35-year-old, who twice won Wimbledon more than a decade ago, was both surprised and delighted by her victory on the clay courts in Rome.

"It's kind of weird that my first one came here," she said. "I've never played my best tennis here. But it feels much better than losing, that's for sure."

Now, she'll try to string together two wins in a row in Rome for the first time since 2015, when she advanced to the quarterfinals.

Eight years removed from that tournament, she walked away from tennis, feeling it was just time.

"I was 95 percent that I would never come back," she said, recalling the final tournament before her maternity leave -- Beijing in 2023. "I had enough of tennis at that time. I was like, 'I can't do it anymore,' so we decided to try for a baby. I didn't say anything because it wasn't 100 percent."

She and Jiri Vanek, her husband and coach, welcomed son Petr last July. She was excited to play again after he arrived.

"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."

Against Begu, ranked No. 83 in the world, Kvitova saved five break points and converted five. Tied 5-5 in the first set, Kvitova won eight of the next nine games to run away with the match.

Her next step is to increase her fitness level, she said, but it's improving.

"I'm not as fit as I wanted to be, for sure," she said. "But even in practices my game was going up."

Kvitova will next face No. 27 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the second round.

Others moving on to the second round on Tuesday were another Czech, Marie Bouzkova, as well as the United Kingdom's Sonay Kartal, Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia, and American Peyton Stearns.

Also advancing were Italian Lucia Bronzetti, Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands, Jaqueline Cristian of Romania and Lulu Sun of New Zealand.

--Field Level Media