Petra Kvitova announces pregnancy and two-time Wimbledon champion will miss Australian Open – ‘Exciting new chapter’

Petra Kvitova has announced her pregnancy and will miss the first Grand Slam of the season at this year’s Australian Open.

The two-time Wimbledon champion was included on the entry list for the tournament, but will now focus on becoming a mother for the first time.

“On the first day of 2024, I wanted to wish you a happy new year and share the exciting news that Jiri and I will be welcoming a baby into our family this summer,” said the Czech on social media.

“While I will miss my annual trip to Australia and competing in the sport I love, I’m looking forward to spending some time at home preparing for this exciting new chapter in our lives.”

Kvitova’s last appearance on court came at the China Open in October, when she was beaten 6-4 7-5 by Liudmila Samsonova.

The 33-year-old married her long-time coach Jiri Vanek last year, and her announcement follows news of Belinda Bencic’s pregnancy that was confirmed in November.

She is currently ranked at world No. 17, with her best Grand Slam performance in 2023 coming at Wimbledon where she reached the fourth round, losing 6-0 6-3 to eventual finalist Ons Jabeur.

Aside from those two Wimbledon singles titles in 2011 and 2014 respectively, Kvitova reached the Australian Open final in 2019 and is a two-time French Open semi-finalist.

She also won a bronze medal representing the Czech Republic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Speaking after the victory, she said: “The last couple of years that I played before I had my daughter, I didn’t return as much love as I was given. I feel like that’s what I want to do in this chapter.

“I just really appreciate people coming out and knowing me and cheering for me, because I feel like there was a time I was just a little kid trying to watch my role models play. So it feels really surreal sometimes to be playing on these courts.”