Kvitova withdraws from RG

Sixth seed and former semi-finalist forced out due to a left forearm tear.

Petra Kvitova© Corinne Dubreuil / FFT
 - rolandgarros.com

Petra Kvitova will not play Roland-Garros after pulling out of the tournament on Monday morning.

The Czech, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2012, announced on Twitter that she is suffering from a left forearm injury.

"I've had pain in my left forearm for a few weeks and last night an MRI confirmed a grade two tear, which unfortunately could get a lot worse if I play today," she said.



Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, was the No.6 seed at Roland-Garros and had enjoyed a strong clay-court season, highlighted by the WTA title in Stuttgart.

She retired from her third-round match against Maria Sakkari in Rome with a left calf injury.

The Czech expressed her disappointment at missing the Parisian Grand Slam, where she made an emotional return to tennis in 2017.

"Two years ago, I made my comeback here at Roland-Garros, so I'm truly sad not to be able to play here this year. It is a really tough decision to make," she said.

Kvitova will be replaced in the draw by Slovenian lucky loser Kaja Juvan, who will face Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the first round.

"I finish this practice"

Kvitova held a press conference later on Monday morning, and said the problem emerged in a practice session.

"Here I felt some tightness in the forearm. It wasn't something new, so, for me, it was okay. Sometimes I do have tightness in my forearm, which is nothing really unusual," she explained.



"But then, I hit a normal forehand, and suddenly I felt a sharp pain in the forearm. My tears went to my eyes, and I said, OK, I finish this practice.

"So then I went to ultrasound. They didn't see anything on ultrasound. They sent me to MRI and they found [the tear] on there."

It is expected Kvitova will require two to three weeks' of rest before resuming training for the grass-court season.

Perspective

Despite her disappointment, Kvitova put the setback into context when considering how far she has come in her return from a knife attack in December 2016.

"I think that I already handle much more tougher things than just tear in my forearm," she said.

"So of course it's my left hand again, so I'm using my right a little bit more. So I'm back in my younger years (smiling).

"But it will be not probably that tough as it was. Before, I didn't know what it will be and what's going to be. Now I know that I gonna heal it. Doesn't matter how long and I gonna be back.

"So it's much more easier I think."