Petra Kvitová

Petra Kvitová (Czech: [ˈpɛtra ˈkvɪtovaː]; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech former professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová won 31 WTA Tour-level career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014. She also won the 2011 WTA Championships, and claimed a bronze medal in singles representing the Czech Republic at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Her career-high ranking of world No. 2 was achieved on 31 October 2011.

Kvitová first gained notice by defeating then-world No. 1 Dinara Safina in the third round of the 2009 US Open. This was followed by her first major semifinal appearance at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Then, during her breakthrough season in 2011, Kvitová won her first major title at Wimbledon over Maria Sharapova in the final, becoming the first player of either gender born in the 1990s to win a major. At the end of the season, she won the WTA Championships on her debut. She also led the Czech Republic to victory in the Fed Cup that same year, the country's first such title as an independent nation.

In 2012, Kvitová reached the semifinals of the Australian and French Opens, and was crowned the US Open Series champion. That same year, she also won the Hopman Cup alongside Tomáš Berdych. In 2014, she won her second major title at Wimbledon, defeating Eugenie Bouchard in the final. In 2015, Kvitová completed the feat of reaching at least the quarterfinals of all four majors after her quarterfinal debut at the US Open. In 2016, she won the WTA Elite Trophy on her debut, thus becoming the first player ever to win both categories of year-end championships on debut.

Kvitová was sidelined with injury in the first-half of 2017 following a knife attack during the off-season in 2016. In 2019, she reached her first major final in almost five years, at the Australian Open, finishing runner-up to Naomi Osaka. She retired from the sport in 2025.

Early life

Petra Kvitová was born to Jiří Kvita, a mayor and former school teacher, and Pavla Kvitová in Bílovec, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). She has two elder brothers. Her father Jiří introduced her to tennis. During her childhood, she admired Czech American player Martina Navratilova. Kvitová trained in her Moravian hometown, Fulnek, until the age of 16, and was then encouraged by an instructor to pursue a professional career in tennis. She was coached by David Kotyza from November 2008 until January 2016.

Career

2006–2010: Career beginnings, first title and ascendancy

As a junior, Kvitová achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 27 on 9 July 2007. She also amassed a 35–7 and 20–9 record in singles and doubles respectively. Her lone Grand Slam tournament appearance as a junior came at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. In singles, eighth-seeded Kvitová advanced to the last 16, after beating Jocelyn Rae and Malena Gordo before losing to eventual semifinalist Katarzyna Piter in straight sets. In doubles, she played alongside fellow Czech Kateřina Vaňková but they fell at the first hurdle to Mariana Duque Mariño and Michelle Larcher de Brito.

Kvitová first attempted to qualify for a WTA tournament at the 2007 Prague Open, but she lost in the second round of qualifying to Ekaterina Ivanova. She then made her debut in the main draw of a WTA event at the 2007 Nordic Light Open, where she lost in the first round to Marta Domachowska in three sets. Throughout 2006 and 2007, Kvitová captured six ITF singles titles, four of which came in her home nation. She also made her Fed Cup debut in 2007, playing alongside Barbora Strýcová in doubles, where they lost to the Spanish team of Nuria Llagostera Vives and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Kvitová began 2008 by upsetting Anabel Medina Garrigues in her opening match in Paris for her first ever WTA main-draw victory before falling to fourth seed Elena Dementieva. Then, she racked up her first ever top-10 win by beating world No. 8 and defending champion, Venus Williams in the first round in Memphis. In April, she played her first Fed Cup singles match where she faced Israeli Shahar Pe'er, which she won in three sets. She also won her seventh and most recent ITF singles title that same month. Kvitová then made her Grand Slam tournament debut appearance at the French Open, and went to the last 16 where she lost to Kaia Kanepi in three sets, having defeated Akiko Morigami, Samantha Stosur and 12th seed Ágnes Szávay en route. Kvitová then made her Olympics debut at the Beijing Olympics, partnering Lucie Šafářová in doubles where the team lost to Australian pair of Stosur and Rennae Stubbs in the first round. In October, she reached the quarterfinals in Zurich as a qualifier where she lost to second seed Ana Ivanovic, but the result nevertheless placed her in the top 50 rankings for the first time ever. She finished 2008 ranked world No. 44.

Kvitová started 2009 impressively by reaching her first final, at the Hobart International, having defeated Sally Peers, Alona Bondarenko, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Virginie Razzano en route. There, she defeated compatriot Iveta Benešová to lift her maiden career title. After suffering consecutive winless appearances at the Australian Open, the Open GdF Suez and the Dubai Championships, she reached the third round in Indian Wells, losing to eventual champion Vera Zvonareva. She was then forced to withdraw from the French Open due to an ankle injury, and withdrew in the first round of Wimbledon. At the US Open, she defeated then-world No. 1, Dinara Safina in the third round in three sets for her first win over a reigning world No. 1. Kvitová was ranked 71 places lower than Safina at the time. However, she came up short to eventual semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer in the round of 16, in three sets. At the Linz Open, Kvitová made her second final of the year, where she lost to Wickmayer once again. She concluded 2009 as world No. 62.

In 2010, Kvitová reached the semifinals of the Memphis Open, losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. She then sailed to the semifinals of Wimbledon, defeating Sorana Cîrstea, Zheng Jie, Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Kaia Kanepi en route, before falling to defending and eventual champion Serena Williams in straight sets. Nevertheless, she was guaranteed to reach the top 30 rankings for the first time. However, after Wimbledon, she suffered five consecutive first round defeats before breaking the losing streak at the US Open. There, she defeated Lucie Hradecká and Elena Baltacha, before losing to defending and eventual champion Kim Clijsters in the third round, having led 3–0 in the first set before going on to lose the next 12 games in a row. Kvitová recorded her first top 40 finish in 2010, at world No. 34, and was also named WTA Newcomer of the Year.

2011: First Grand Slam and WTA Tour Championships titles

Kvitová started 2011 by winning her second career title at the Brisbane International, defeating the likes of third seed Nadia Petrova and fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova en route to the final, where she beat Andrea Petkovic for the title. With the win, she achieved the ranking of world No. 28. Kvitová was the 25th seed at the Australian Open, and made her first quarterfinal here, having defeated Sally Peers, Anna Chakvetadze, fifth seed Samantha Stosur and 22nd seed Flavia Pennetta en route, where she lost to second seed Vera Zvonareva in straight sets. Her strong run there ensured her a top 20 debut in the rankings, at world No. 18. Kvitová then beat Slovaks Dominika Cibulková and Daniela Hantuchová in the Fed Cup opening round to put the Czech team in the semifinals.

At the Open GdF Suez, Kvitová won her second title of the year by defeating newly crowned world No. 1 and newly crowned Australian Open champion, Kim Clijsters in the final, in straight sets. Once again, Kvitová's ranking rose to a new high of world No. 14. After that, she suffered an early loss to Ayumi Morita in Dubai. She then lost her next two opening matches to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in Indian Wells, and to Kristina Barrois at an ITF tournament in Nassau. At the Miami Open, Kvitová defeated Varvara Lepchenko in the second round but then lost her next match to Pavlyuchenkova. In the Fed Cup semifinals against Belgium, she led the Czech team into the final, with wins over Yanina Wickmayer and Kirsten Flipkens.

Kvitová kicked off her clay-court season in Madrid, where she won her third title of the year and her first Premier Mandatory-level title. She beat Alexandra Dulgheru, Chanelle Scheepers and second seed Zvonareva to reach the last eight. She then overcame Cibulková and Li Na to reach the final where she defeated Victoria Azarenka to claim the title. She made her top 10 debut after the tournament at world No. 10. The following week, because Jelena Janković failed to defend her points in Rome, Kvitová moved one place up to No. 9. She played another ITF tournament at her home country in Prague that week, losing in the final to Magdaléna Rybáriková. Kvitová was the ninth seed at the French Open. She defeated Gréta Arn, Zheng Jie, and Vania King in straight sets, before losing to eventual champion Li Na in the fourth round, despite having led 3–0 in the deciding set.