Winning return for Kvitova at French Open but top seed Kerber crashes out

Petra Kvitova made a victorious return to tennis on the opening day of action at the French Open but world number one Angelique Kerber was knocked out.

Five months after suffering career-threatening injuries when she was stabbed by an intruder in her home, Kvitova looked sharp and eager in a 6-3 6-2 triumph over Julia Boserup.

The 27-year-old, who suffered injuries to all the fingers on her dominant left hand, said on Friday she had won her biggest fight just by being able to play tennis again.

“I feel great, obviously,” she said after that match. “I won for the second time, if I can say.

“It was a nice and really heart-warming welcome on Chatrier. My team was there. My family was there. Everyone who helped me through the difficult time. So it was a real pleasure to play in front of them and play how I played.

“I think I played well after six months off. I’m happy with the game, of course, but it wasn’t really about the game today. I’m glad it’s still there, still in the mind, still in the hand.”

There were a few signs of Kvitova’s long absence – this was her first match since November 12 – but the good far outweighed the bad and she struck her signature forehand with familiar clout.

She showed the weight of the occasion only at the end, dropping her racket to the clay and turning to her support camp with hand over mouth in disbelief.

“Yesterday I was thinking how everything will be and I couldn’t really imagine,” she said.

“I maybe thought that I would cry when I step on the court, but I didn’t today, which actually I was happy about because normally I can control my emotion on the court, so I’m happy that I kind of did it as well this time.

“In the end, I didn’t have to any more. So, yes, a few tears for after the match point.”

Kvitova first picked up a racket again in March, 12 weeks after the attack, and only began practising properly at the beginning of May.

The hand is still not perfect but crucially for the 15th seed she remains pain free.

There was nothing positive for Kerber to take from her 6-2 6-2 loss to Ekaterina Makarova as she became the first top seed in the women’s draw to lose in the opening round at Roland Garros in the Open era.

The German, who also lost in round one last year, has had a miserable season and is not a fan of clay so the result came as no real surprise.

Kerber won the Australian Open and US Open titles last year and also reached the final at Wimbledon.

She said: “This year, the expectations are much bigger, especially in the big tournaments and the grand slams. And the expectations are also from me really big because I know what I can do, what I did last year.

“But right now I think that I have to find to myself again and just try to forget the clay court season as soon as possible, and then reset and start from the grass courts again.”

Eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, a potential title contender, defeated Christina McHale 7-5 6-4 to reach round two.