Karolina Pliskova reveals there was a moment when she feared that returning to tennis wouldn't be possible, but now feels better and is ready to give herself another shot at tennis.
In August 2024, the Czech tennis player gave a walkover to Jasmine Paolini in their US Open second-round match.
Following the US Open retirement, Pliskova had surgery on her left ankle. Unfortunately for the 33-year-old, the initial surgery didn't fix her problems as she had to go under the knife once again in early 2025.
After being sidelined for more than a year, Pliskova returned to action by taking part in two ITF tournaments between mid-September and early October. The former world No. 1 still faced some troubles and went just 1-2 in a total of three matches played.
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Before the two procedures on her ankle, Pliskova suffered a serious wrist injury during the 2021 offseason and had to surgically address it. For the 17-time WTA champion, it has been a struggle to stay healthy since.
Plsikova: Multiple parts of my body were hurting me... It didn't make sense
"There was even a moment when I thought I might never come back at all. It wasnt just my foot that hurt- my back, my arm, everything was hurting. It just didnt make sense," the former world No. 1 told Flashscore.
In the same interview, Pliskova confirmed that her return to action in September didn't go smoothly. However, after playing several practice matches against fellow players and feeling well throughout, the 33-year-old decided to return in 2026.
"Yes. I was questioning whether it was worth it. But then I gave myself a bit of space, some distance, and started training a bit differently. Thats also why I decided I wanted to give the start of the year another try," the 2021 Wimbledon finalist explained.
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Pliskova used her protected ranking to enter the Brisbane International and the Australian Open.
