The two -time champion of Wimbledon Petra Kvitova won his first game since the birth of his first son, then he said he had been close to stopping tennis.
The Czech got a 7-5 6-1 victory over Romania Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome.
His victory concluded a series of four defeats since the 35 -year -old returned to competitive action after 15 months later during which he gave birth to his son Petr.
Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014 and reached the number two in the world, said he had doubted that he would return to the international arena.
“I had 95% that I would never return. I had enough tennis at that moment. I was like, ‘I can’t do it anymore’ – So we decided to try a child,” he said to the Women’s Tennis Association website (WTA).
“I didn’t say anything because it wasn’t 100%. When I was able to do something finally after pregnancy, I played a little tennis and I felt so well. I was laughing. Every shot that I hit without hitches, I was like, ‘Wow – it’s still there’.”
Kvitova will now play in the world number 36 ONS Jabeur of Tunisia in the second round of the tournament played on the clay fields of Foo Italio.