Petra Kvitova: “I’m ready to retire. I regret nothing’ | Petra Kvitova

IT will be very tempting Petra Kvitova In preparation for what she might do when it will be her last game before she retires from tennis. Despite her many achievements – she won two Wimbledon titles, 31 global championships and entered the No. 2 world – she may have long felt that she should win more victories. Her Czech compatriot Martina Navratilova won the Wimbledon record nine times, and she said Kvitova could go on to win five games. But just as Rafael Nadal always found a way to see things as a perspective, Kvitova stepped into retirement content for everything she absolutely had.

“It may be my personality, I didn’t win more,” Kvitova, 35, said on the eve of the U.S. Open. “I think I have talent. Maybe I can do more work, but on the other hand, I think that maybe it kills my talent or mentality.

“I think I can [have won more]. But what should I do? I participated in the Australian Open final [in 2019]I Naomi who lost Osaka When she was doing well in the third set. There are always some question marks in the number of Grand Slams. Becoming the number one in the world, that’s what I’m missing. Maybe that’s what I want to have. But if it didn’t happen, it wouldn’t happen. This will not give me a better life or make me happier. ”

Given what Kvitova has experienced in the middle of her career, it’s an impressive emotion. The champions at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, left-handed ranked 11th, when the off-season in late 2016 She suffered a terrifying knife attack an intruder from her own home. Her left hand requires a lot of surgery and her doctor only gives her a 10% chance to play again. But she not only returned in six months, but also won 12 titles and reached career-high second place in the trend of top rankings.

This requires her to not know the inner strength she has. “I knew I was a big fighter on the court, but then I realized I was a completely different fighter of my own,” she said. “That’s great, even playing tennis is hard. I cried on the court, my flashbacks are really bad, I had nightmares. So it’s really not easy. It took a while, but now everything is good. There’s a big question mark, can I play tennis?

Kvitova married her coach, former player Jiri Vanek, who gave birth to her first son Petr in July 2024. She returned to the tour only seven months later, but struggled physically and won one of her nine games. “I’m going to stop,” she said, adding that she wanted to have another child in due course. “Mentally, I don’t think I can do that anymore, emotionally and physically.

“You still remember how you played before, everything went well, I played the winner and suddenly it wasn’t there.

“I am ready [to retire]. I have no regrets. I still love tennis, but everything else, waiting for practice, waiting for cars, waiting for games, it’s just tiring. Having a son is a completely different life. I just want to be with him, too. ”

With a big serve and crushed ground sprint, Kvitova is one of the purest hitters of her generation. The best thing about her is that she is almost unparalleled, winning the WTA Tour title 31-11 in the finals every year from 2011 to 2019. Her performance in the 2014 Wimbledon finals, Her glittering Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 In 55 minutes, it is considered one of the best ever. Not surprisingly, this was one of her most proud moments. “Winning it for the second time is completely different from winning the game for the first time,” Kvitova said. “If you know how it feels the first time, you just want to win it. It’s nothing, that’s it. You just know what it feels like to win. That’s probably the best memory.”

There are many other highs, especially her six Fed titles with the Czech Republic. She won the WTA final in 2011, won a bronze medal at the Olympics in 2016, and in 2023, she surprised everyone Winning the Miami Open at 33. “That’s what I’m proud of,” she said. “I haven’t played the best before, I have no real confidence at all, I’m tired and old, and that’s happening. I’m very proud of it.”

Looking back, she lost to Kirsten Flipkens in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2013 – “I remember I was sick” – but if there was a game she hoped to come back and most importantly, when she was eliminated by Osaka, it was the final of the Australian Open.

“That was the most painful game of my career, it was horrible,” she admitted. On the other hand, after what happened, I would have signed everything to the finals and had the chance to play against them and compete with them. Maybe there is a game that I do remember a reward, which is a little long, which may be long, and maybe it can change everything. I have a breakthrough point. But overall, I don’t know I can change it.