Petra Kvitova is a Czech professional tennis player, who has won 28 career singles titles, two of which are Grand Slam titles, the Wimbledon Championships in 2011 and in 2014. She also won a bronze medal while representing the Czech Republic at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She has a career-high ranking of world No 2, achieved on October 31, 2011.
Petra Kvitova was born on March 8, 1990, in Bilovec, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). Her father introduced her to tennis and she trained in her own town until the age of 16.
Petra Kvitova turned professional in 2006 and had a fly-start, winning two ITF titles already in the first season – $10,000 Szeged / Erste Women’s Open (Hungary) and $25,000 Valasske Mezirici (Czech Republic). Next year she added another four trophies – $10,000 Stuttgart (Germany), $25,000 Prague-Pruhonice (Czech Republic), $25,000 Prerov (Czech Republic), $25,000 Valasske Mezirici (Czech Republic), as well as two runner-ups at $50,000 Zlin (Czech Republic) and $100,000 Bratislava (Slovakia).
In 2008, Petra Kvitova started playing in the WTA tour. However, she lost in the second round of the WTA 500 Open Gaz de France Suez in Paris and WTA 250 Memphis Open. Her bigger success came later during the year at the French Open / Roland Garros, where she reached the fourth round. During the year, she reached two quarter-finals at WTA 250 Budapest Grand Prix and WTA 500 Zurich Open. The great year, skyrocketed her to the Top 50.
Petra Kvitova won her first WTA title in 2009 at WTA 250 Hobart International. Later the same year, she reached the fourth round of the US Open and was runner-up at the WTA 250 Upper Austria Ladies Linz.
In 2010, Petra Kvitova improved her performance and reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon. She also reached the third round of the US Open and WTA 1000 China Open. This brought her into Top 30 for a while but ended the year at No 34.
The year 2011 was the most successful for Petra Kvitova. Already in January, she won the WTA 250 Brisbane International and reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. In February won WTA 500 Open GDF SUEZ in Paris, while in May won WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open and reached the fourth round of the French Open / Roland Garros. The great performance climbed her into the world’s Top 10, but the best is yet to come. In June, she was the runner-up at the WTA 500 Viking International Eastbourne and won her most prestigious title at Wimbledon. By the end of the year, she reached the semi-finals of WTA 1000 Toray Pan Pacific Open and won WTA 250 Upper Austria Ladies Linz. At the end of the year, Petra Kvitova won the Year-End Championship at TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, which brought her to world No 2, where she ended the year.
During the next year, she was expected to defend the titles and win more. In 2012, Petra Kvitova reached semi-finals of the Australian Open and the French Open / Roland Garros, as well as quarter-finals of the Wimbledon and the Olympic Games. She won the prestigious trophy of the WTA 1000 Coupe Rogers, as well as WTA 500 Connecticut Open. During the year she remained in the Top 10, but slid to No 8 at the end of the season.
In 2013, Petra Kvitova won the titles at WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and WTA 1000 Toray Pan Pacific Open, reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, as well as the semi-finals of WTA 1000 China Open the Year-End Championship at TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul. She ended the year at No 6.
Petra Kvitova kept her good form and remained on the top of the world’s women tennis during the next year. However, 2014 did not start successfully for her, losing in the first round of the Australian Open. However, she reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 Qatar Total Open and WTA 1000 Miami Open presented by Itau. In May she reached the semi-finals of WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open but was defeated in the third round of the French Open / Roland Garros. However, her big success came again at Wimbledon, where she won her second Grand Slam title. By the end of the year, she won the trophies at the WTA 500 Connecticut Open, WTA 1000 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and was runner-up at the WTA 1000 China Open. Thus, she ended the year at No 4.
Petra Kvitova continues being within the Top 10 already in 2015. She won the titles at the WTA 500 Sydney International, WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open, WTA 500 Connecticut Open. She reached the quarter-finals of the US Open and was the runner-up at the Year-End Championship at BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SCglobal.
The year 2016 did not start well for Petra Kvitova again. She failed at the Australian Open, the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and WTA 1000 Qatar Total Open, reaching maximum in the second round. In March, she reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and semi-finals of the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. however, at the Olympic Games in Rio, she made fantastic matches and reached the semi-finals, winning the bronze medals for her country. At the end of the year, Petra Kvitova returned on the winning path and won the title at the WTA 1000 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and the Year-End Championship at Hengqin Life WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
In 2017, Petra Kvitova suffered a terrible accident. She was attacked during a break-in at her home in the Czech Republic by a knife-wielding robber. During the break-in she suffered cuts to her dominant left hand, resulting in injuries to the tendons and nerves. She was initially expected to be sidelined for six months but returned a month ahead of schedule in May. In June, she already won the WTA 500 Viking Classic Birmingham, while in August reached the quarter-finals of the US Open. At the end of the season, she reached the semi-finals of the prestigious tournament WTA 1000 China Open. However, being out of tennis for half a year, dropped her ranking out of the Top 20 and she ended the season at No 29.
Petra Kvitova continues playing great and winning titles. In 2018, she won WTA 500 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, WTA 1000 Qatar Total Open, WTA 250 Livesport Prague Open, WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open, and WTA 500 Viking Classic Birmingham. In 2019, she was the runner-up at the Australian Open (losing on the final from Naomi Osaka with 2-1) and WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (losing on the final from Belinda Bencic with 2-1), but won the titles at WTA 500 Sydney International, WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
In 2020, while the world was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and some sports events were suspended, Petra Kvitova reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, the semi-finals of the French Open / Roland Garros, and was runner-up at the WTA 1000 Qatar Total Open.
In 2021, she won her last title (until now) at the WTA 500 Qatar Total Open.
Petra Kvitova is one of the most impressive and remarkable tennis players ever. Definitely, we may expect more titles and trophies from her. She is also one of the most beautiful girls in tennis.