Petra Kvitova claimed a remarkable victory at the Aegon Classic title in Birmingham just six months after a career-threatening stabbing incident at her home.
Kvitova saw off Australia's Ashleigh Barty 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in only her second tournament since the start of her comeback at the French Open last month.
Two-time Wimbledon winner Kvitova was stabbed in the Czech Republic in December and could have lost her career, escaping instead with hand injuries. But in a stunning performance against Barty, Kvitova battled back from losing the first set and stepped up in the second half of the decider to seal victory.
Barty, the world No. 77, made a strong start as she broke to lead 2-1 in the opening set and carried her advantage through to claim the opener with relative ease. But Kvitova stepped up her game at the start of the second, breaking for 2-0 and moving to the brink of levelling the match when she secured a double break to move 5-1 in front.
Serving for the set, the Czech suffered an attack of nerves as two double-faults enabled Barty to claw one break back, but that was not enough as Kvitova served out for the set at the second attempt.
Kvitova seized control of the decider as she broke immediately then pressured the Barty serve again only for the momentum to swing again as Barty broke back to level at 2-2. A fired-up Kvitova responded immediately as she blasted back from 40-0 down to reel off a series of winners and once again take control of the set.
Building on her advantage, Kvitova followed up with a second break before serving out strongly with an ace to seal her remarkable comeback success.