Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova to retire

Kvitova was 21 when she beat Maria Sharapova in the 2011 final

Double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has announced that she will retire from tennis at the end of this summer.

The Czech player won the ladies' singles titles in 2011 and 2014 and also reached the final of the Australian Open in 2019.

Kvitova was stabbed by an intruder at her home in 2016, which damaged tendons and nerves in her left hand, threatening her career.

In recent years she has fallen down the rankings and last made the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam in 2020.

She missed the whole of 2024 to have her first child Petr and only returned to action in February.

It took her five tournaments to register her first victory, which came against Irina-Camelia Begu on clay in Rome, but that so far remains her only win.

Kvitova said on X that she had surpassed her dreams during her career and will retire after September's US Open.

She said: "I never imagined becoming a professional tennis player, being able to travel the world and play in the most beautiful stadiums around the world.

"I've been privileged to reach incredible heights over the past 19 years and accomplished more than I could have ever imagined.

"As with all phases in life, there comes a day that it is time for a new chapter, and that time for me has come now.

"I am excited and very much looking forward to soak in the beauty of playing The Championships, Wimbledon one more time, a place that holds the most cherished memories in my career for me.

"And while I am not entirely sure yet what my hardcourt swing in the US will look like, I am intending to finish my active playing career at the US Open in New York."

The former world number two was the only non-British player named in the initial batch of Wimbledon wildcards announced on Wednesday.