"Right now I'm healthy" - Krejcikova ready for Roland Garros title defence

Roland Garros defending champion Barbora Krejcikova is back on the courts after taking a long time off to heal an elbow injury.

Krejcikova stormed to a maiden grand slam trophy last year as part of her dramatic rise to stardom in 2021. Krejcikova finished in the top 5 playing at the WTA Finals but things did not go as planned in 2022. She dealt with an elbow injury taking a long time off to heal it. Speaking ahead of the event, Barbora said:

“I have a problem with my elbow. I think it just happened because of the way I played last year. I think it was just so many matches. My body told me that I have to rest. I was off for quite a long time. I didn't expect it, to be honest. But I think it was worth it to have a break after such a tough last season. Right now I feel healthy, also I think mentally I'm really recharged."

Starting back at Roland Garros is great for Krejcikova:

Read also

Women's Draw confirmed for 2022 Roland Garros including Swiatek, Krejcikova, Raducanu, Osaka and Halep

“It's amazing to start at the place where I won my first Slam last year. I'm looking forward to build up with matches and to get back to form. I don't think expecting is something good for me after being injured for a long time. But I think that I can be a good opponent. I think I can play well. And even after being injured I think I had some time to recover and to practise, so I have been preparing for this. I believe when I start playing matches I can be really dangerous again and can go really deep.”

She finished off with:

“Overall for me, I'm still the same player. I'm still playing tennis. I still love tennis. I still love to compete. I'm still looking forward to every single match that I'm playing. I still feel that I can put myself back to the moment when I was a little kid and I was just enjoying the game, doing something that I love.”