The character arc of Petra Kvitová
Born 8 March 1990 in Bílovec, raised in the small Moravian town of Fulnek. Between then and now sit two Wimbledon titles, a break-in at her home in December 2016 that cut her left playing hand and left doctors unsure she would compete again, a first match back about five months later, and a return to a Grand Slam final in 2019. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Petra Kvitová?
They doubted the hand. She answered on court.
She grew up in Fulnek, a small town in the east of the Czech Republic, and learned the game on local courts before her left-handed power carried her onto the tour. In July 2011 she beat Maria Sharapova in the Wimbledon final, the first player born in the 1990s to win a major, and in 2014 she won Wimbledon a second time, losing only three games in the final. By then she was one of the most feared strikers in the sport.
On 20 December 2016 an intruder broke into her home in Prostějov and attacked her with a knife. She grabbed the blade, and the cuts damaged tendons in all five fingers of her left playing hand and two nerves. Surgery followed, and doctors were unsure she would hold a racket the same way again. She set a return as her goal and worked toward it in private. About five months later she walked back onto court at the French Open and won her first match, and in January 2019 she reached the Australian Open final, losing a close three sets to Naomi Osaka.
Her line is worth reading because the part that was supposed to end it, the hand, is the part she rebuilt. She stepped away from the tour in 2025 and has since been raising a young family, a son born in 2024 and twin daughters in 2026. What the story set moving is already plain: she is proof that the thing you are told you have lost can be the thing you learn to use again.
The moments
Petra Kvitová's timeline.
The 1990s
A start in Fulnek
Everyday. A small Moravian town and local courts, where a left-handed swing first took shape.
The 2010s
First Wimbledon title
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She beat Sharapova for her first major, the first player born in the 1990s to win one.
Year among the very best
Milestone. She won the season finale and closed the year as the world number two.
A second Wimbledon
Milestone. A second title on the grass, and one of the most one sided finals the court had seen.
An intruder and the hand
Setback, and it changed everything. An intruder attacked her with a knife. The cuts damaged tendons in all five fingers of her left playing hand and two nerves.
Rebuild the hand, or step back
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: train for a real return, taken, or let the career rest. She won her first match back at the French Open about five months later, and by January 2019 she had reached a Grand Slam final again.
Doubt she would play
Setback, and it changed her direction. After surgery, doctors were unsure she would hold a racket the same way again. She set a return as her goal.
First match back
Milestone, and it changed her direction. About five months after the attack, she walked back onto court and won her first match.
Back among the best
Milestone. She won five titles across the year and climbed back among the leading players.
A Grand Slam final again
Milestone. Two years after the attack, she reached a major final again, losing a close three sets.
The 2020s
Became a mother
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Her first child arrived, and she spoke of wanting to return to the court once more.
Stepped away from the tour
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She closed a career that spanned two Wimbledon titles and one long road back.
Welcomed twin daughters
Milestone. The line she carried now runs on in a family of five.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is already there in every player and every person who was told the damage was final and decided to test that for themselves.
In her words
Quotes by Petra Kvitová
I am happy that I have all my fingers, at the end of the day.
No one knows how hard I had to work to be back.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
Hers is a story of losing the one thing she needed and building it back. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about three minutes.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Petra Kvitová, accessed 14 September 2026.
- The Wimbledon final records, 2011 and 2014.
- Contemporary press coverage of the 20 December 2016 break-in and her injuries (CNN, ESPN, NPR, ABC).
- The 2017 French Open first round record; her return match, 29 May 2017.
- The 2019 Australian Open final record, 26 January 2019.
- The record of her 2025 retirement and the 2024 and 2026 births in her family.
- Kvitová, on her recovery from the 2016 attack, widely reported 2017.
- Kvitová, French Open 2017, after her return match.