Bidding Farewell to a Legend: Revisiting Petra Kvitova’s 2012 Title Run in Montreal

Petra Kvitova, who welcomed her first child last year, recently announced her retirement following the U.S. Open and she was especially looking forward to one last visit to the All-England Club where she has won both her Grand Slam titles in 2011 and 2014 (when she beat Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the final). During her illustrious career, the Czech lefty became one of the most feared players on the surface thanks to her powerful game that often left her opponents feeling helpless. She played her final contest at her favourite tournament against world no. 10 Emma Navarro of the United States on Court 1.

Between her two Wimbledon titles, Kvitova captured her first trophy on North American hard courts in 2012 at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal. Her impressive run included victories over Ksenia Pervak, Marion Bartoli, Tamira Paszek, Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-finals and Li Na in a highly entertaining three-set final that featured some impressive shot-making from two of the best players in the world at the time. The win over Li Na ended a 10-month title drought for Kvitova and preceded a second hard court title a few weeks later in New Haven. 

"It was a fun tournament for me [in 2012]," Kvitova said. "It's always very tough and the field is just amazing."

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In 2013, her title defence ended in the Toronto quarter-finals at the hands of eventual finalist Sorana Cirstea. 

For more than a decade, Kvitova was the face of the juggernaut that was Czech women’s tennis and she carried the mantel with grace and pride from start to finish. She led her country to six Billie Jean King Cup triumphs, earned a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, and inspired many to follow in her footsteps, just like Martina Navratilova did for her. She took home 31 WTA singles titles in her career, including the Tour Finals, and achieved a career-best ranking of no. 2 in October of 2011. 

But it was at Wimbledon where Kvitova cemented her status as an all-time great of the women’s game and it’s only fitting that she could give SW19 a proper goodbye and that fans could see her play on the famed grass courts one more time.