Czech tennis stars Barbora Krejcikova and Petra Kvitova have accepted wildcards into Birmingham, per James Gray. Krejcikova, 26, has no previous appearances in Birmingham as she is set to make her debut at the British grass court event.
On the other, Kvitova is a familiar face in Birmingham, having played there four times.
Barbora Krejcikova and Petra Kvitova have accepted wildcards to play the WTA 250 event in Birmingham. — James Gray (@jamesgraysport) May 31, 2022
Kvitova, 32, won back-to-back Birmingham titles in 2017 and 2018 but hasn’t played at the tournament since then.
After missing almost the entire clay season, second-ranked Krejcikova is set to start her grass season on time. Krejcikova was sidelined for three months before she made her long-awaited comeback at the French Open. Krejcikova, who lifted her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open last year, didn’t make it far at Roland Garros this year as she suffered a shock first round loss versus Diane Parry.
Parry clinched the biggest victory of her career after recovering from a set and a break down to beat Krejcikova 1-6 6-2 6-3.
Krejcikova then tested positive for COVID-19
Krejcikova failed to defend her French Open singles title and also didn’t defend her French Open doubles title with Katerina Siniakova.
A day after her loss versus Parry, Krejcikova tested positive for COVID-19 and she and Siniakova were automatically withdrawn from the French Open doubles event. “Hi everyone, I have to make a very hard announcement.
I was looking forward to competing in doubles very much but unfortunately my time here at Roland Garros got cut short. Last night I started to feel bad and this morning I woke up with fewer. I decided to get tested for COVID and it came back as positive.
I am extremely sad that I won’t be able to defend to my title in doubles her, but on the positive side, I am glad I am injury free and can’t wait to get healthy and back to training. Thank you everyone for their support.
Good night from Paris and see you all soon,” Krejcikova captioned her Instagram Story. WTA Birmingham kicks off on June 13.
