IIt would be tempting for Petra Kvitova to reflect on what might have been if she prepared for what her last tournament will be before she retires tennis. For all her many achievements – she won two Wimbledon – titles, 31 tournaments worldwide and reached World No 2 – there has been a feeling for a long time that she might have had to win even more. Martina Navratilova, her colleague Czech who won a record from Wimbledon nine times, said she felt that Kvitova could win five times. But just like Rafael Nadal, who has always found a way to put things in perspective, Kvitova goes into pension content that she has given absolutely everything she had.
“It is probably my personality that I have not won anymore,” says Kvitova, 35, on the eve of the US Open. “I think I had a talent. Maybe I could work a little more, but then, on the other hand, I think it might kill my talent or my mentality.
‘I think I could do it [have won more]. But what can I do? I played in the final of the Australian Open [in 2019]I lost to Naomi Osaka when she played incredibly in the third set. There are always a few question marks in the number of large slams. Being world no. 1, that’s what I miss. That is probably what I would like. But if it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen. It would not give me a better life or make me happier. ‘
Given what Kvitova went through in the middle of her career, it is an impressive sentiment. The champion at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, the left -handed person was ranked no. 11 when she suffered a horrible knife attack from an intruder in her own house at the end of 2016. She needed an extensive operation on her left hand and her doctors gave her only a 10% chance of playing again. But she not only came back within six months, she still won 12 titles and reached a career-high ranking of No. 2, within a pinch of the top ranking.
It required an inner power that she did not know she had. “I knew that I was a big hunter on the field, but at that moment I realized how I am an even bigger hunter in a totally different version of myself,” she says. “That was great, although it was very difficult to play tennis. I was crying on the field, I had really bad flashbacks, I had nightmares. So it was really not easy. It was all a while, but it was all good now. There was a big question mark, I can play tennis or not? And it was my second career.”
Married to her coach, the former player, Jiri Vanek, Kvitova, gave birth to her first child in July 2024, son Petr. She returned to the Tour only seven months later, but struggled physically and won only one of her nine games. “I am ready to stop,” she says, and adds that she would like to have another child in due course. “Mentally I think I can no longer do it, as well as emotional and physical.
“You still remember how you played earlier, how everything was smooth and I hit winners and suddenly it is not there.
‘I’m completely ready [to retire]. I don’t regret anything. I still love tennis, but everything else, waiting for the practices, waiting for the car, waiting for a competition, it is just tiring. And with a son it is a completely different life. I just want to spend more time with him. “
With a large serving and crushing foundations, Kvitova was one of the purest Bal Strikers of her generation. At her best she was almost unbeatable, she went 31-11 in the final and won at least one WTA Tour title from 2011 to 2019 every year. Her performance in the Wimbledon final 2014, when she is greeted Eugchard of Canada 6-3, 6-0 in 55 minutes as one of the best of all the time. Not surprising, that’s one of her most proud moments. “It is completely different to win it for the second time than for the first time,” says Kvitova. “If you know how it feels for the first time, you just want to win it. It is nothing more, nothing more. You just know that winning feeling. That was probably the best memory.”
There were many other highlights, not least its six Fed Cup titles at the Czech Republic. She won the WTA final on her debut in 2011, won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in 2016 and in 2023 she surprised everyone by winning the Miami Open at the age of 33. “That was one that I was very proud of,” she says. “I never played the best before, I was not really confident at all, I got tired and old, and this happened. It was very proud of that.”
Looking back, she recovers her loss against Kirsten Flipkens in the quarterfinals in Wimbledon in 2013-“I remember that I was sick” but if there was one competition she would like, it would especially be those Australian open-final when she was equipped by Osaka.
“That was the most painful match of my career, it was terrible,” she admits. “On the other hand, after what happened to me, I would have drawn everything to be there in the final and have the chance to play against the best and to be competitive with them. There was perhaps one game, I remember a return, which was a bit long, that perhaps everything could change.
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