Petra Kvitov\u00e1, one of the most accomplished players of her generation, has officially closed the curtain on her career following a first-round defeat at the US Open. The 35-year-old Czech, a two-time Wimbledon champion, lost 6-1, 6-0 to France\u2019s Diane Parry on Monday in what she confirmed would be her final professional match. Kvitov\u00e1 revealed afterwards that she had contracted Covid-19 just three weeks earlier, which left her struggling physically. \u201cMy lungs are not really working yet,\u201d she admitted, though she remained determined to finish her career on her own terms at a Grand Slam.
Kvitov\u00e1 announced her retirement plans earlier this year, choosing the US Open as her swansong. A touching on-court ceremony honored her remarkable achievements, which include 31 WTA titles, two Wimbledon crowns in 2011 and 2014, and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Ranked as high as world No. 2 during her career, she recorded eight top-10 seasons and was known for her fearless left-handed power game, particularly on grass, where she won her final title in Berlin in 2023.
Beyond her victories, Kvitov\u00e1 was admired for her sportsmanship and character. She was voted by her peers to receive the WTA\u2019s Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award eight times, more than any other player. \u201cThroughout her career, Petra has competed with humility and resilience and thrilled audiences with her exciting brand of tennis,\u201d WTA CEO Portia Archer said, adding that she will be \u201cgreatly missed by the WTA family and fans around the world.\u201d
Her journey was marked not only by triumphs but also by resilience. After a 17-month break from the tour to give birth to her son, Petr, in July 2024, Kvitov\u00e1 returned earlier this year to compete once more. Over nearly two decades in the sport, she became the first player born in the 1990s to win a Grand Slam, defeating Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2011, and inspired countless fans with her fighting spirit through injuries, illnesses, and setbacks.
Reflecting on her career, Kvitov\u00e1 said she takes pride in her mental strength, longevity, and ability to thrive under pressure. \u201cI\u2019ve never been world No. 1, but those two Grand Slam wins are above the world No. 1,\u201d she said. As she steps away from the game, she acknowledged that what she will miss most is the sport itself: \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful sport. Everything you do on the court, it\u2019s your fault or your win. That\u2019s the beauty of tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Petra Kvitov\u00e1, one of the most accomplished players of her generation, has officially closed the curtain on her career following a first-round defeat at the US Open. The 35-year-old Czech, a two-time Wimbledon champion, lost 6-1, 6-0 to France\u2019s Diane Parry on Monday in what she confirmed would be her final professional match. Kvitov\u00e1 revealed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hq720-1.jpg?fit=686%2C386&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17151,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17150\/revisions\/17151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}