Petra Kvitova is the latest tennis star to announce a professional tennis comeback after becoming a mother.
Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion and Australian Open 2019 finalist, gave birth to baby boy Petr in July after announcing her pregnancy in January 2024.
She last competed at the China Open in early October 2023.
Kvitova announced on Instagram she was planning to return for a swing of tournaments in the United States, beginning with the ATX Open in Austin.
“I’m here to tell you some exciting news. After 15 months being away from tennis and having my baby boy Petr, I’m coming back to tennis circuit,” she said.
“I really miss tennis and miss competing, so I am really looking forward to be back. I’m planning to play end of this month, [at the] tournament in Austin, [then] Indian Wells and Miami.
“I can’t wait to see all my fans all around the world, and thank you very much for supporting me. It will be a nice journey, and I can’t wait.”
Kvitova’s comeback follows hot on the heels of former world No.4 Belinda Bencic, who returned to the sport in late 2024.
That return came a year after three high-profile comebacks by women’s Grand Slam champions in Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber.
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Kerber has since retired, but Wozniacki has returned to the top 100 and Osaka the top 50, while Bencic has soared so far in her return, winning 15 of her 20 matches, reaching the fourth round at AO 2025 and improving her ranking by more than 1000 places.
Kvitova, 34, was thriving in 2023, her most recent season on tour.
She won in Miami and Berlin and hit world No.8 in July – her highest ranking in two-and-a-half years.
A winner of 31 singles titles and more than $37 million in career prize money, the Czech lefty hit a career-high ranking of world No.2 in 2011 and returned to that lofty position in early 2019.
Kvitova reached at least the quarterfinal stage four times at Melbourne Park, most recently at Australian Open 2020 – the same year she progressed to the semifinals at Roland Garros.
Her appearance in Austin will mark her tournament debut, before she embarks on the “Sunshine Double” of Indian Wells and Miami.
She is a three-time quarterfinalist in the Californian desert and carries a six-match winning streak into Miami.