Petra Kvitova runs strong, lean and recently scarred fingers through her hair, a smile never far from her lips. She has rarely looked so unencumbered by expectation.

As a prodigy, then a champion, she has lived with the weight of her talent but, six years after leaving Wimbledon with the first of her two singles titles there, and just five and a half months since surviving a horrific knife attack in her home in Prostejov, the 27-year-old Czech is basking in the Parisian sun as if reborn.

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This week she steps back on to a tennis court in the glare of the French Open, where her best finish has been the semi-finals five years ago, but that hardly seems relevant.

She is still wary, and walks with a guarded eye now in public. Her attacker raked a knife across the fingers of her left hand, the one she uses for her job, and only three hours and 45 minutes of surgery the next day saved her from losing her career. Kvitova cannot discuss the attack but she said after confirming her place in the draw: “I did miss definitely the court, I did miss the fight. Now I can just enjoy everything, even the beautiful weather outside. Sometimes I just stand outside and see the sun and say: ‘Oh, it’s beautiful.’ I see different kind of things than before.”

With a protected ranking and seeded No15, she plays the world No85 Julia Boserup, a tall, 25-year-old Californian with a modest record over nine years. She missed a year and a half from 2012 with foot stress fractures. Still, Boserup might as well be Serena Williams, because Kvitova is charting new waters.

“It wasn’t easy,” she said of her ordeal. “My hand, it’s still not 100% ready, so we will see how everything goes, but I’m happy that I am able to play again. I had this hand in a splint for two months and, even then, I was practising every day, always putting the splint away and trying to make the scar softer.”

She tried working it two days after surgery, nevertheless, and had to contain her frustration over six months, stepping back on to the practice court only this month, in Monte Carlo, where she now lives. The damage has been as much psychological as physical, but she seems admirably suited to coping with both.

“I’m happy that I didn’t have to change any technique, and everything seems OK. Of course, the hand doesn’t have that power and the strength yet, but I’m working on it. Hopefully one day everything will be perfect. But we never know still. I’m just happy that when I’m playing I don’t have pain in my hand. I didn’t test it in a match, of course. Maybe it will be different when the nerves come and I’m gonna be tight.

“Not many people believed that I could play tennis again, so I actually already won my biggest fight. I’m happy. I like challenges. I see life a little bit from the different angle. I don’t really have nightmares. From the beginning I was feeling really weird when I went in the city or somewhere. I was always staring at guys, looking to see if there are any strangers there. But with the time, it’s better.”

She revealed she had thought about making her comeback at Wimbledon, the scene of her biggest triumphs. “Then, when the things were even better, I was, like: ‘Wow, the French Open is one month before. It will be great to play there.’” She sounded just like the player who charmed Wimbledon in 2011.

There has been palpable joy in the locker room, too, upon Kvitova’s return, as she was happy to relate. “Everybody is kind of surprised to see me. I’m hearing only good stuff: good luck, and welcome back. So it’s great to see players that are really happy to have me back. Actually, I miss them as well. There were a few people I was in touch with, and it’s nice to see them finally.”

Among those surprised and delighted to see Kvitova in the draw was Johanna Konta, who said when told: “She’s in the draw? I didn’t know. I knew she was hoping to play, but I don’t look at the draw. Actually, that’s really good. I hope I actually see her now. I haven’t spoken to her in a little while. That’s massively positive, that’s really good news.”

Not many sporting rivals gush so fully over the return of someone who might be a barrier to their own success. As it happens, Konta is on the other side of the draw, and has challenges of her own deeper in the draw, where she might play the No9 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round, Karolina Pliskova in the quarters and maybe the injured but dangerous Simona Halep or the No5 seed Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals.

Still, she is in the draw. Alone, representing Britain.

As Konta, seeded No7, was being drawn to play the 31-year-old Taiwanese world No109 Hsieh Su-wei, Heather Watson was out on Court No6 losing her ninth game in a row in just 45 minutes against the fourth-seeded qualifier, Richèl Hogenkamp. The struggling British player received courtside treatment for an injury to her left knee – and won three games, before the Dutch player wrapped it up without fuss.

Hsieh, a serial loser in qualifiers at majors who has done little of note outside doubles in recent years, did reach the second round at Wimbledon two years ago, but it would be surprising if she forced a third set out of Konta.