Petra Kvitova reveals engagement to boyfriend and long-time coach Jiri Vanek at Wimbledon
Petra Kvitova took to social media on Wednesday to announce her engagement to her boyfriend Jiri Vanek, who is also her long-time coach.
Posting a picture of the pair on Twitter, the 32-year-old shared the news with her fans.
"Happy news we wanted to share with you guys… I said “yes” in my special place ❤️💍" she tweeted.
Happy news we wanted to share with you guys… I said “yes” in my special place ❤️💍 https://t.co/WlgDcKWMjr
The 44-year-old Vanek and Kvitova have been rumored to be dating since mid-2020. They began working together during the 2016 off-season. He has previously coached Karolina Pliskova.
The World No. 21 had revealed that she was dating Vanek a year ago, just before heading to New York for the Grand Slam. It's been widely considered that the pair began seeing each other during the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome last year.
Vanek is a former professional tennis player whose highest rank was No. 74, which he achieved in 2000. He is divorced and has two children from his previous marriage to his first wife Marketa.
This is the second time in the last seven years that Kvitova has announced her engagement. In 2015, she had stated that she was engaged to her Czech boyfriend and hockey player Radek Meidl.
The two-time Wimbledon champion has also dated Czech tennis players Radek Stepanek and Adam Pavlasek in the past.
Petra Kvitova impresses at 2022 Cincinnati Open
Petra Kvitova has had a mixed year to date. She had a modest 17-15 win-loss record for the season before she reached Cincinnati last week to take part in the Western & Southern Open.
The Czech player entered the event on the back of an early exit at the Canadian Open. She almost made a quick exit at the tournament. She was one point away from going out in the first round against Jil Teichmann, but held on to come through the contest.
The former World No. 2 rode the momentum to beat the likes of World No. 5 Ons Jabeur en route to the semifinals, where she faced 2019 champion Madison Keys. She came back from a set down to win 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3 in over two hours and reach her 40th singles final.
However, she couldn't add to her Eastbourne title as she went down 6-2, 6-4 to Caroline Garcia. The Frenchwoman needed an hour and 42 minutes to beat Kvitova and become the first qualifier to win a WTA 1000 title.
Having fallen to No. 34 in the WTA rankings earlier this year, she has climbed seven spots to No. 21.