One of the purest ball strikers of her generation, with a menacing lefty serve and wicked two-handed backhand, Petra Kvitova wreaked havoc on the WTA Tour for the better part of her 19-year professional career.
The wins were brilliant, but the hearts that she won while achieving them? Even better. Gentle, soft-spoken and thoughtful, the two-time major champion and former World No. 2 always had time to deliver a kind word, a warm greeting or a funny joke. She was adored by her peers in the locker room, even if they recognized her as a major threat at the top of the WTA food chain for more than a decade.
Kvitova was undoubtedly one of the best players of her generation, and her 31 career titles speak to that clearly. Even more impressive was the Czech’s ability to perform on the big stage. In addition to her two Wimbledon crowns, she went 31-11 across her 42 WTA finals, recorded 64 Top 10 wins, including six against reigning World No.1s. Add to that nine WTA 1000 titles, a WTA Final title at her debut in 2011, an Olympic bronze medal at the 2016 Rio games and six Billie Jean King Cup titles with her Czech teammates, and we have the makings of a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
The pressure of playing at such a high level for so long took a toll on her, as it does all top players.
“Those nerves, which I had, for example today, before the match… it's something you can't imagine,” she said before her final career match, a 6-1, 6-0 loss to France's Diane Parry. “I think I did have it for one exam in school, and then every match.”
She handled it all so well.
“I’'m very proud of how I handled the pressure, how many times I have been in the top 10,” Kvitova explained. “It was very special for me. Even if I never have been World No. 1, I still think those two Grand Slam wins are above the World No. 1. So that's how I am gonna take it.”
Today, at 35, and far from her peak, Kvitova was eliminated from her last Grand Slam, but it is the memories of the Czech in her prime that still inspire awe. In possession of mind-bending power and the courage to go for the lines, she put forth two of the most dominant Wimbledon final performances ever, defeating Maria Sharapova in 2011 and Genie Bouchard in 2014, and compiled a 38-14 lifetime record on the Wimbledon grass.
Kvitova, who logged 128 Grand Slam main draw victories in total, summed up her feelings about the sport eloquently in front of reporters after Monday’s loss.
“What I will miss, it will be the tennis itself,” she said. “It's a beautiful sport. Everything you do on the court, it's your fault or your win. I think that's the beauty of the sport, as well.”
She was also a constant force on indoor courts, where she racked up 79 career wins, more than any other current active player.
In the end it is Kvitova’s humanity – and her courage – that sticks with us. While in her prime in 2016, she suffered career-threatening lacerations to her left hand when a knife-wielding burglar attacked her in her apartment. She would need surgery to tendons in all five fingers and two of the nerves in her hand before returning to the court, but when she did she remained a force, returning to No.2 in the world and reaching her third major final at the 2019 Australian Open, where she was barely edged out by Naomi Osaka in an epic battle.
Kvitova’s second inspiring comeback commenced more recently. She gave birth to her first child Petr in July 2024. She returned to tennis this spring not in hopes of making a run at another Slam title but to say goodbye to the sport she loved – and which loved her back.
“Petr, our son, is at home, so I miss him,” she concluded. “So I think we will go tomorrow night.”
