New mother Petra Kvitova reveals how her husband & baby's presence at Italian Open helped her get 1st win after maternity leave

Petra Kvitova secured her first win since returning from maternity leave, getting the better of Irina-Camelia Begu at the Italian Open. The returning Grand Slam champ won 7-5, 6-1 in the opening round of the WTA 1000 event.

Notably, Kvitova's box did not feature husband and coach Jiri Vanek during the encounter. Speaking to the media during her post-match press conference, the Czech clarified that while her husband did make the trip to Rome, he was occupied elsewhere.

Kvitova revealed that Vanek was in fact looking after their child, Petr, who was travelling with Kvitova for the first time. She would even go on to credit her win to her son's presence in Rome, saying his absence had affected her during her time at the Madrid Open.

"It is nice to have my baby here. He wasn’t in Madrid and it was very tough," Petra Kvitova said.

Shifting focus to her performance in the Italian capital, Kvitova noted that she was not expecting too much from herself given her rather poor record at the venue.

The Czech had last won back-to-back matches in Rome nearly a decade ago in 2015 when she made the quarterfinals. She saw the lighter side of things, joking that the win is a welcome change after four consecutive losses.

"Well this feels much better than losing," Petra Kvitova joked. "It’s kind weird that my first win came here in Rome, where I never played well."

"I don’t have any goals" - Petra Kvitova addresses comeback expectations after first win at Italian Open

Petra Kvitova has played fice tournaments since her comeback. (Source: Getty)

Petra Kvitova also addressed her comeback details, saying she has not set any major goals for her return. The love for the sport, she said, swayed her into giving competitive tennis another shot.

The Czech, who has played five tournaments (Austin, Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and now Rome) since returning to competition back in February, went on to add that there was no definitive timeline on how long she intends to continue playing professionally.

"I don’t have any goals," Petra Kvitova said. "I came back because I love the sport. Not the tournament, but tennis itself. There was like 95% chance that I wouldn’t comeback... but at the moment, there is no time limit for this comeback."

Up next at the Italian Open, Kvitova will face familiar foe Ons Jabeur in the second round. The Czech leads her opponent in their current head-to-head with a 4-2 margin.