Petra Kvitova is set to retire from professional tennis after the US Open.
The Czech player returned to the WTA Tour in February after missing the entire 2024 season after giving birth to her first child.
But six months later, Kvitova, 35, will hang up her racket and bid farewell to the sport at Flushing Meadows.
Kvitova will leave tennis after winning 31 WTA titles, 32 if she takes the US Open crown, and reaching as high as number two in the world rankings.
Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty ImagesPetra Kvitova would change the amount of travelling in tennis if she could
Petra Kvitova has been part of the WTA Tour since she turned pro in 2006.
Almost two decades later, the two-time Wimbledon champion will say goodbye to tennis after competing at the US Open for the last time.
When she retires, she will no longer be required to travel as often as during her career, and this is the only thing Kvitova said she would change about tennis.
“If I could change just one thing about tennis, it would be to not travel as much,” she told reporters in her pre-US Open press conference.
“You cannot imagine how difficult it is to string together trips throughout the year, waking up in hotels sometimes not remembering where you are, and spending so much time in airports.
“It’s very challenging, and I believe the show would improve if we didn’t travel as much.”
Photo by MARTIN KEEP/AFP via Getty ImagesWho is Petra Kvitova’s opponent at the US Open?
Kvitova will face Diane Parry to commence her US Open campaign and the final tournament of her career.
The 22-year-old will go head-to-head with Kvitova for the first and last time, in what is set to be an intriguing match.
Ahead of her last tournament, Kvitova stressed that she will always love tennis, but she is ready to move into the next chapter of her life.
“I’m totally ready [to retire]. I’m not regretting anything,” Kvitova told The Guardian. “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.”