Birmingham Classic: Petra Kvitova withdraws from warm-up tournament due to arm injury ahead of grass-court season

Two-times defending champion Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from next week’s Birmingham Classic as she continues to recover from arm injury that forced her to miss the French Open, Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association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 on Wednesday. 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. [caption id=“attachment_4659271” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Petra Kvitova. AP[/caption] “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. The injury comes as a blow for world number five Kvitova ahead of next month’s Wimbledon, where she will bid for her third title following triumphs in 2011 and 2014. The LTA confirmed American Madison Keys has also pulled out of the tournament due to an injury. World number three Karolina Pliskova joins a draw which already features world number one Naomi Osaka and newly-crowned French Open champion Ashleigh Barty.