Kvitova's Missed Return to the WTA Circuit in Austin

This Tuesday, February 25, 2025, marks the return of Petra Kvitova to the WTA circuit.

17 months after her last match at the Beijing tournament in 2023, the 34-year-old Czech, who missed the entire 2024 season due to a happy event, played her first match of the year.

In Texas, at the WTA 250 tournament in Austin, Kvitova faced Jodie Burrage, a 25-year-old British player ranked 189th in the world.

After breaking into the top 100 two years ago, Burrage has struggled to maintain her ranking, partly due to injuries.

In a balanced match that saw both women create a lot of break point opportunities (17 for Burrage and 16 for Kvitova), the two-time Wimbledon champion missed her chance at 4-3 in the third set when she squandered opportunities to break.

In her next service game, the Czech player lost her serve after leading 30-0. In the end, Burrage triumphed in a nail-biter (3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in 2h30).

Kvitova's last victory was on October 1, 2023, in the Chinese capital, when she defeated Wang Xiyu in the first round (6-7, 7-5, 6-3).

After that, she was defeated by Liudmila Samsonova. Nonetheless, Kvitova undoubtedly enjoyed every moment of her return to the WTA courts.

As for Burrage, she continues her journey in Austin and will face Ajla Tomljanovic, who defeated Katie Volynets (7-6, 7-5), for a place in the quarterfinals.