Two-time defending champion Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from next week’s Birmingham Classic as she continues to recover from arm injury that forced her to miss the French Open, Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) said yesterday. Kvitova won the Birmingham event in 2017 in just her second tournament back following a serious knife attack that nearly ended her career, and followed up with a victory over Magdalena Rybarikova to lift the title again last year.
“Unfortunately Birmingham is too soon, but I’m working really hard to get back as soon as possible and – of course -keeping everything crossed for Wimbledon,” the 29-year-old wrote on Twitter.