"Ended up having an emergency C-section" - Petra Kvitova reveals childbirth complications, postpones tennis return after demanding procedure
Petra Kvitova has been away from tennis for just over a year now. The two-time Wimbledon champion tied the knot with coach Jiri Vanek last year and the couple welcomed their first child, son Petr, into the family this July.
The Czech’s maternity leave, however, is likely to extend a little further. Speaking to Czech portal LP-life.cz in a recent interview, Kvitova revealed that her delivery did not go as planned and she ended up needing an emergency c-section.
Saying that she had hoped for a smoother process, Kvitova noted that the procedure had changed her plans for the future slightly. She did, however, add that her body is very nearly back to where she would have liked it to be.
"I'm still a few kilos up but it's slowly coming back down so hopefully it'll be the way it should be soon. I thought the birth would be better but it was ordeal and I ended up having an emergency c-section so it wasn't quite nice," Petra Kvitova said.
Shifting focus to a potential return to the tennis court, Kvitova said she was keeping things open and will see how things unfold for her both “mentally” and “physically”.
The Czech conceded that at 34, she needed to listen to her body and also take into account the family’s future while making a decision.
"I have it open now, also because of how I ended up with the c-section," the two-time Wimbledon champion said. "I didn't say so either, so I'm keeping it open as to how it will turn out for me, both mentally and physically."
"After all, I'm not the youngest anymore and we have a son, so it's more of a family decision, at the moment. We'll see how it all goes," she added.
"If the little one doesn't sleep at all at night, [Jiri] takes him" - Petra Kvitova opens up about parenting
In the same interview, Petra Kvitova also opened up about parenting. She said her coach-turned-husband Jiri Vanek is a great help, adding:
"If the little one doesn't sleep at all at night, [Jiri] takes him in the morning and I can get some sleep before he goes to work and takes care a lot, so I can't complain at all."
If she were to return, Kvitova would join the growing list of mothers who made successful comebacks. The likes of Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Naomi Osaka, Tsvetana Pironkova and Tatjana Maria have all made for endearing comeback stories in recent years.
Before taking her leave, Kvitova was in the middle of a solid season in 2023, one that saw her lift a WTA 1000 crown in Miami and another WTA 500 trophy on her beloved grass at Berlin.