RG17 Highs and lows: #5, Petra Kvitova inspires the world

Some stars passed on playing in the French Open, while others weren't allowed in. You know all their names. What matters is what took place inside and outside the lines in Paris. On the heels of a fairly predictable and alternately off-the-chain major event, here are the thoroughly vetted, unequivocal–or entirely subjective–best and worst moments from the 2017 French Open.

See No. 6 here.

5

Petra Kvitova returned from rehabbingher left hand, and the tennis world rejoiced. After an armed robbery in her home in December, the possibility lurked that she might never return to professional play.

That dread was dispelled when the courageous Kvitova showed her competitive spirit by winning a round in Paris against Julia Boserup, who was supremely classy in defeat both at the net and later on.

Kvitova’s peers near the top of tennis took good notes on her return, as Madison Keys, Andrea Petkovic and many others were moved to tears and tweets by her appearance at Roland Garros.

Kvitova’s second-round match-up was tougher. She continued to compete gamely–much more than that, even–before bowing out in two tiebreak sets to fellow ball-walloper Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Let us remember for all of time that the word “Petra,” in Greek, means “rock.” As if two searing Wimbledon championship victories hadn’t sealed the deal already, she has certainly earned that moniker forevermore.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.