Petra Kvitova will go down as one of the top players of her generation after winning two Grand Slams in a competitive landscape – and deserves huge credit for battling on in her career despite being attacked by a knifeman in a harrowing incident back in 2016
Petra Kvitova – a two-time former Wimbledon champion – has insisted she is “totally ready” to retire from professional tennis at the age of 35 after competing in the US Open this summer, nine years after she was victim of a knife attack.
Kvitova is a two-time Grand Slam champion after winning Wimbledon once in 2011 and again in 2014 but her life was dramatically altered after being attacked in her own home by a man with a knife in 2016.
She suffered a deep cut in her left hand and required urgent surgery to ensure she could play on in her career. She managed to bounce back and was able to compete in the French Open the following year.
Speaking to the Guardian, Kvitova has revealed how she had nightmares and “really bad flashbacks” over the horrifying incident but said she was proud of how she fought on regardless.
“I knew I was a big fighter on the court but at that time I realised how I am an even bigger fighter in a totally different version of myself,” she said.
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“That was great, even though it was very tough to play tennis. I cried on the court, I had really bad flashbacks, I was having nightmares.
“So it really wasn’t easy. It took a while, but it’s all good now. There was a big question mark, can I play tennis or not? And I could. It was my second career. It was amazing.”
She said she had no qualms about hanging up her racquet after all the struggles she’s been through. While she still loves the sport, she said retiring will mean she can spend more time with family.
“I’m totally ready,” she added. “I’m not regretting anything. I still love tennis but everything else, waiting for the practices, waiting for the car, waiting for a match, it’s just tiring. And having a son, it’s a totally different life. I just want to spend more time with him as well.”
Kvitova’s efforts in the aftermath of her knife attack ordeal have been remarkable. In what she calls her “second career”, she reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in 2017, the final of the Australian Open in 2019 and the semi-finals of the French Open in 2020.
Reflecting on her career, she said the only thing she wonders about was if she ever could have been world No 1 – but insists that achievement “would not make me happier”.
“I think I could [have won more],” she added. “But what can I do? I played in the final of the Australian Open [in 2019], I lost to Naomi Osaka when she played incredibly in the third set. There are always a few question marks in the number of grand slams.
“Being world No 1, that’s what I’m missing. Probably that’s the thing I would love to have. But if it’s not happened, it’s not happened. It would not give me a better life or make me happier.”