Watch: Petra Kvitova's heartwarming video message to her fans thanking them for continued support

Former champion Petra Kvitova defeated top seed Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2022 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday. She will take on Jelena Ostapenko for a spot in the semifinals.

Kvitova is a very popular figure among tennis fans all across the globe due to her style of play and charming personality. Before her match against Sabalenka, the WTA posted a short video of the Czech thanking her fans for sticking with her through thick and thin. The WTA captioned the post: "Fans for life."

In the 17-second video, Kvitova acknowledged the support that she still gets from fans at the age of 31.

"Hello, fans, I'm really glad that you're still supporting me even at my age. I've been on the Tour pretty long and you're still with me. Thank you very much for all the messages, thank you for watching, thank you for supporting. I try to make you happy, so fingers crossed," Kvitova said.

"It was a bit tough for me mentally, physically, everything" - Petra Kvitova on her wrist injury

Kvitova during her Dubai Duty Free Tennis match.

During her post-match press conference, Kvitova spoke about her recent struggles with a wrist injury. The Czech revealed that she first developed swelling on her wrist in January, adding that it had been tough, mentally and physically, to deal with such a setback at the start of the year.

The two-time Wimbledon champion, however, said she was hopeful of hitting her stride as the season progresses.

"I started to feel [the injuy] a little bit before I was going to Australia," Kvitova said. "It was my wrist. It wasn't that bad from the beginning, but after my first match in Adelaide, it got just swollen. In the end it was inflammation which took me a little while to heal it after coming back from Australia."

"Whole month I actually just play only matches. Yeah, it was a bit tough for me mentally, physically, everything," she continued. "It gets better. And I prefer to play some matches instead of practice. That's why I came to St. Pete. Yeah, I just have to take it slowly and not have the big expectations on me."