Petra Kvitova, Vera Zvonareva granted wildcards into St. Petersburg

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Former world No. 2 Petra Kvitova and Vera Zvonareva have been awarded wildcards into St. Peterburg, per Michal Samulski.

WTA500 St. Petersburg main draw wildcards
Petra Kvitova
Vera Zvonareva
Xinyu Wang
Kamilla Rakhimova — Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) February 4, 2022

Kvitova, 31, is set to make her fourth appearance in St.

Petersburg. Kvitova had an impressive St. Petersburg debut in 2018 as she made it all the way after beating Kristina Mladenovic in the final. Kvitova then made back-to-back quarterfinals at the tournament in 2018 and 2019. On the other side, Zvonareva is set to make her third St.

Petersburg main draw appearance. Zvonareva made the St. Petersburg round-of-16 in 2018, before she made the semifinal at the tournament a year later. After reaching the St. Petersburg semifinal in 2019, Zvonareva had to fight for a main draw spot a year later.

Zvonareva failed to secure a main draw spot as she was beaten in the qualifying final round. Zvonareva returned to St. Peterburg last year and made the semifinal before losing to Margarita Gasparyan.

Kvitova, Zvonareva last played at the Australian Open

Kvitova suffered a shock loss at the Australian Open as Priscilla Hon handed the Czech a 6-2 6-2 loss in the first round.

"I can't explain how much I've been waiting for this moment," Hon said after clinching the biggest win of her career. "I was injured for almost a year, so I was even more pumped to come out on tour and focus on what I've been wanting to do for the past couple of years.

"Pretty proud about how I held up at the end - I've been working really hard on that and staying calm. Obviously top players don't give it to you, so you've really got to work hard for it." Zvonareva didn't enjoy success in Melbourne either as she was beaten by Elise Mertens in the first round.

Neither Kvitova or Zvonareva have had great starts to the year. Kvitova has a 1-3 record, while Zvonareva has a 1-2 record. Kvitova and Zvonareva will be hoping to make notable results in St. Petersburg.