ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova retired from professional tennis on Monday, secure in her status as one of the greatest players of her generation. Having announced ahead of Wimbledon that the US Open would be her swan song, the 35-year-old bowed out in the first round on Monday against France’s Diane Parry.
After making her professional debut on the ITF Circuit in 2006, the left-handed Czech’s first breakthrough came at Roland Garros in 2008, when she advanced to the fourth round on her Grand Slam main-draw debut.
In January of 2009, she captured her maiden WTA title in Hobart. Two years later, in 2011, she matched top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki with a WTA Tour-leading six titles. From that point forward, Kvitova managed to win at least one title nine years running through 2019, also winning the most titles (five) in 2018.
The grass courts of Wimbledon, where Kvitova was twice triumphant, proved to be her greatest stage. In 2011 she defeated recent Hall of Fame inductee Maria Sharapova in the final to become the first player born in the 1990s to win a Grand Slam title. Three years later, in 2014, she overcame Eugenie Bouchard for the crown.
Including these successes, Kvitova went 31-11 in finals across her career, notching important wins on each of the major surfaces — 20 titles on hard courts (including indoors, where her 79 match wins was the most for an active player), six on grass and five on clay. Among active players, only Venus Williams has been more prolific.
Other notable tournament runs included the 2011 WTA Finals in Istanbul — the first of seven appearances at the year-end event — where she defeated Victoria Azarenka in the title bout, and three titles at the Mutua Madrid Open. She won nine tournaments at the WTA 1000 level, most recently the Miami Open in 2023, and was the runner-up to Agnieszka Radwanska at the WTA Finals in Singapore in 2015.
It was after her title run in Istanbul that Kvitova first rose to a career-high No. 2 in the rankings, the first of eight Top 10 seasons (2011-15, 2018-20). She very nearly clinched No. 1 on a couple of occasions. (In Sydney in 2012, she was two wins from making the final ascent. And at the Australian Open in 2019, she needed to defeat Naomi Osaka in the final but fell in a tight three-setter.)
“Throughout her career, Petra has competed with humility and resilience and thrilled tennis audiences with her exciting brand of tennis,” said Portia Archer, CEO of the WTA. “The fact that her player peers voted for her to receive the prestigious Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award on eight occasions says everything about her special place in our sport.
“She is a true champion, on and off court, who will be greatly missed by the WTA family and fans around the world. We wish her much joy and success in the next chapter.”
In addition to tying with Kim Clijsters for a record number of Krantzcke awards, Kvitova was named the WTA’s Most Impressive Newcomer in 2010. In 2011 she was the WTA Player of the Year and Most Improved Player, and in 2014 she was the recipient of the WTA Diamond ACES Award, which goes to the player who gives the most to promote the game of tennis on and off the court.
Kvitova also earned six wins over a reigning World No. 1, defeating Dinara Safina (2009 US Open), Wozniacki (2011 WTA Finals), Serena Williams (2015 Madrid), Angelique Kerber (2016 Wuhan), Wozniacki (2018 Doha) and Ashleigh Barty (2020 Doha).
Including a bronze medal at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 (Kvitova is a four-time Olympian) and heroic contributions to six Czech Billie Jean King Cup championships, she leaves the sport with a main draw singles win-loss record of 514-258 (128-59 at Grand Slams) and career prize money of more than $37.5 million (seventh on the all-time list).
After playing at the China Open in 2023, Kvitova went on maternity leave for 17 months. She gave birth to her son, Petr, in July 2024 and returned to action at the ATX Open in Austin, Texas in February this year. She won the last of her titles on grass at Berlin in 2023.