Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova announces the end of her professional tennis career

Congratulations for a great career, two time Wimbledon champion.

She looked done when I saw her play this year, its the right decision for her.
 
In many ways, I was just as happy for Kvitova when she won the title at Birmingham in 2017, in her second tournament back following the knife attack at the end of 2016, as I was when she won either of her 2 Wimbledon titles. That would have been even more special for her given what she'd been through, than winning a run of the mill Wimbledon tune-up.

Given that she was also part of so many Fed Cup winning Czech teams as well (6 in 8 years from 2011-2018), to me she should be a lock for the hall of fame.

While she never reached world no. 1, I think she was unquestionably the player of the year for the 2011 season (during which she also won the YEC, Madrid etc.). She unsurprisingly won both the WTA and ITF player of the year awards for 2011.

She was a real nuisance for Muguruza, including beating her at the 2017 US Open (Muguruza on the back of her Wimbledon and Cincy titles was considered to be the best player in the world at the time), and at the 2022 US Open saving 2 match points.
 
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In addition to her hard hitting from the baseline, I thought that she had nice variety with her serve, very nice volleys (including stop volleys) and touch, and could generate sharp angles.
 
Kralingen said:
Her peak was unbelievable. Such a fun player to watch, and a great person beyond that. Doesn’t get anywhere near enough attention for what she went through with the knife to her hand.
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The criminal who attacked and brutally cut Petra's hand in her apartment was caught and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

This is what Petra's hand looked like after the knife attack. On the right is her healed hand.
cc10f3d7eee5adfcc03a245656a30fd1
 
She also won one YEC and runner up in another.

Initially she was a ball basher but she was a treat to watch at Wimbledon when she played well.
 
To be honest I don't know why she bothered to come back in the first place. She's 35 now and hardly likely to recover her former level. She must have concluded that the comeback was a mistake as it almost always is for retired players who think they can start competing again.
 
What a player she was when she was on. What a face. To have had as good a career as she did after that attack was seriously impressive stuff. That Aussie Open final with Osaka was a hell of a thing. Her ability to win on all the surfaces (even if the Madrid altitude definitely gave her a helping hand on clay) made her part of a fairly rare club in the women's game.

Hope she has a long and happy life.
 
Mainad said:
To be honest I don't know why she bothered to come back in the first place. She's 35 now and hardly likely to recover her former level. She must have concluded that the comeback was a mistake as it almost always is for retired players who think they can start competing again.
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She didnt retire unlike the others. She just went on maternity leave like Azarenka.
 
ND-13 said:
She didnt retire unlike the others. She just went on maternity leave like Azarenka.
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OK my bad. It's so long since I'd seen her on the tour that I assumed she had retired. In any event, she's now decided to do so. At her age, coming back from a long layoff like that was always going to be a stretch.
 
Interview with Martina Navratilova for WTA. Martina is Petra's tennis role model.
petra_kvitova_martina_navratilova_wimbledon_czech_tennis_legends_fan.jpg


As Petra Kvitova prepares for her final Wimbledon, Martina Navratilova reflects on the power, precision and quiet grit that defined her career.

Petra Kvitova was born in 1990, a few months before Martina Navratilova won Wimbledon, the last of her 18 Grand Slam singles titles.

When she began to show an interest in tennis, Kvitova’s father, Jiri, had her watch tapes of some of Navratilova’s high-profile matches.

“I don’t think she was consciously trying to imitate me,” Navratilova said earlier this week from her Miami home. “But take some things that she could apply to her game -- and she did it beautifully."

“When she was on, wow, I wouldn’t have wanted to play her.”

On Thursday, Kvitova, 35, announced this will be her last season on tour. Earlier this year, she returned to tennis after giving birth to her son, Petr -- naturally, during last year’s Wimbledon fortnight. She said she plans to finish her career at the US Open later this summer, after playing Wimbledon one final time. Appropriately, that’s where she won her two major titles, in 2011 and 2014.

“I therefore wanted to share with you that 2025 is my last season on tour as a professional,” she wrote in a statement. “I am excited and very much looking forward to soak in the beauty of playing The Championships, Wimbledon one more time, a place that holds the most cherished memories in my career for me.”

Like Navratilova, Kvitova was born in Czechoslovakia before it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Like Navratilova, she is a powerful lefty with a game made for the grass at the All England Club.

Kvitova is the only active player with multiple Wimbledon titles. She beat Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in the 2011 final, becoming the first Grand Slam singles champion of either gender to be born in the 1990s. Three years later, it was a 6-3, 6-0 win over Eugenie Bouchard in the championship match. Kvitova lost only three service points in the second set.

“She had a great record there and killed in the finals,” Navratilova said. “The lefty serve helps, because it just spins away from the backhand even more on the grass. And she had massive groundstrokes. And she could volley, you know, take the short ball and move forward."

“Petra wasn’t the fastest player, but she was fast enough to get set up for her shots. She was unpredictable and had all the shots -- forehand, down the line, crosscourt, backhand down the line, crosscourt, slice when she needed it. She dictated. Soft hands. She had everything.”

Her tennis legacy is indisputable, but it is her courage that Navratilova admires most. In 2016, Kvitova survived a home invasion in which she was stabbed repeatedly. Her left hand was so badly damaged, doctors couldn’t promise she’d ever play tennis again.

Five months later, Kvitova was back on the Hologic WTA Tour.

“That was amazing because she still to this day doesn’t have the feeling in her hand,” Navratilova said. “I have a small wedding band on my ring finger, and I move it to my right hand because I don’t feel the racquet the same way, just from that ring. I always take it off."

“And to not have a feeling in those last two fingers [on her left hand], I can’t imagine being able to play at all.”

Kvitova didn’t just come back, she excelled. She was ranked No. 6 when she reached the 2019 Australian Open final, losing to No. 4 Naomi Osaka
7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4.

“She almost won it,” Navratilova said. “That’s crazy. Happy for her. Nothing but admiration for her and now she can relax and not have to stress anymore.”
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Very entertaining player Petra. A very good career with 2 Wimbledons/2 slams, but wish she had won a HC slam also.
The intruder stabbing her with the knife was horrific and the way she came back after that was highly commendable.
All the best to her in the future.
 
Not unexpected, will always enjoy watching the beatdown that Petra gave that brat Bouchard (no thanks, I don't give handshakes at Fed Cup pre-match ceremonies) in the 2014 Wimbledon final, especially that 2nd set bagel.

Wishing Petra all the best with her post-tennis life after everything she's been through with that horrible knife attack in 2016 which sidelined her for 6 months or so.
 

So Kvitova's career has now come to an end after a heavy defeat against Parry. All the best to her during the next phase of her life.

What a career she put together, what a game and firepower she had and what resilience she showed. Also the fact that she was so well liked by her peers throughout her very long career was notable.

She won the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award 8 times in 9 years from 2011-2019.
 
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When I saw this match in the multi-view and she was down a set 1-6 against Perry who barely hits a backhand, knew it was over. All the best to her, especially after the knife attack.
 
Why didn't she retire in Prague (or even Wimbledon), where she would have been better appreciated?

Seems odd to retire at a tournament with one man and his dog in the crowd, and at an event she's hasn't historically done too well at, relatively speaking.
 
No_Kwan_Do said:
Why didn't she retire in Prague (or even Wimbledon), where she would have been better appreciated?

Seems odd to retire at a tournament with one man and his dog in the crowd, and at an event she's hasn't historically done too well at, relatively speaking.
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Prague citizen here, born and raised here. Lived in Prague for 26 years.
Because there is just one WTA 250 in Prague. Legend like this deserves better
 
kangaroo1973 said:
Prague citizen here, born and raised here. Lived in Prague for 26 years.
Because there is just one WTA 250 in Prague. Legend like this deserves better
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She deserved better than what she got at the USO today. At least retiring in Prague, she would have done so in a full stadium with adoring fans with a proper send off.
 
No_Kwan_Do said:
Why didn't she retire in Prague (or even Wimbledon), where she would have been better appreciated?

Seems odd to retire at a tournament with one man and his dog in the crowd, and at an event she's hasn't historically done too well at, relatively speaking.
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It would have been more appropriate to end her career at Wimbledon, no doubt. However, Petra wanted to use the one protected ranking that she still had. She should have just let it go, but Petra simply didn't think of it, lol.
 
Enceladus said:
It would have been more appropriate to end her career at Wimbledon, no doubt. However, Petra wanted to use the one protected ranking that she still had. She should have just let it go, but Petra simply didn't think of it, lol.
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Losing the first round at USO pays more than winning a 250, so ...
 
Her Miami title run in 2023 at the age of 33 and sending her back into the top 10, also came as something of a pleasant surprise.

Rybakina was the pretty clear favourite to win that final, on the back of her Indian Wells title run (destroying Swiatek and beating Sabalenka in straight sets in the final), though she had faced and saved a match point earlier on in Miami vs. Badosa.

After a marathon first set tiebreak, during which she saved 5 set points, she rolled through the 2nd set, with clutch serving, strong returning and excellent shotmaking that day.

I'd forgotten that she won so many WTA titles, 31 in total - that Miami title was her 30th.
 
Kralingen said:
Her peak was unbelievable. Such a fun player to watch, and a great person beyond that. Doesn’t get anywhere near enough attention for what she went through with the knife to her hand.
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This attack ended her career but she was so courageous to come back with a damaged hand that would never be the same. What a character! An amazing woman.
 
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