Marketa Vondrousova

 Marketa Vondrousova

Markéta Vondroušová is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. She was born on June 28, 1999, in Sokolov, Czech Republic. Vondroušová has achieved considerable success in her tennis career.

Vondroušová gained recognition in 2017 when she reached the final of the Biel/Bienne Open, a WTA 250 event, where she finished as the runner-up. However, her breakthrough year came in 2019 when she reached the final of the French Open. At just 19 years old, she became the first teenager to reach the women's singles final at Roland Garros since Ana Ivanovic in 2007. Although she lost to Ashleigh Barty in the final, her performance propelled her into the tennis spotlight.

Throughout her career, Vondroušová has showcased a versatile playing style, employing an aggressive baseline game combined with effective shot-making skills. She possesses a strong left-handed forehand and a solid two-handed backhand. Vondroušová is known for her ability to construct points and hit winners from different positions on the court.

In addition to her success at the French Open, Vondroušová has reached several other notable milestones. She has won one WTA singles title, which came at the 2017 Ladies Open Biel/Bienne. She has also reached the semifinals of prestigious tournaments such as the Indian Wells Masters and the Rome Masters.

As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, Vondroušová achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 14 in the WTA rankings in May 2019. However, please note that her ranking might have changed since then.

Vondroušová is a former junior world No. 1, having won two major doubles titles. She had a quick breakthrough on the WTA Tour, winning the 2017 Ladies Open Biel Bienne at age 17 in just her second career WTA Tour singles event. This helped her reach the top 100 of the WTA rankings before turning 18. Vondroušová struggled with injuries early in her career, most notably missing the second half of the 2019 season shortly after her French Open final. Her signature shot is the drop shot. She is one of the best returners on the WTA Tour, having led the tour in percentage of return games won and percentage of return points won in 2019 among all players with at least ten matches.

Early life and background

Markéta Vondroušová was born on 28 June 1999 to David Vondrouš and Jindriška Anderlová in Sokolov, a small town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic . Her father introduced her to tennis at the age of four, having played the sport recreationally. Her mother played volleyball for SK Slavia Prague in the top-flight Extraliga. Her parents divorced when Vondroušová was three, but they both stayed in her life and supported her growth as a tennis player. When Vondroušová was young, she tried a variety of sports, including skiing, football, table tennis, and floorball, excelling in them all. She began to focus on tennis early, entering a national mini-tennis tournament on Štvanice island in Prague in 2006, in which she finished third and qualified for an international tournament in Umag in Croatia, where she lost in the first round but won the consolation bracket as an eight-year-old competing against mostly nine-year-old players.

After the tournament in Štvanice, it was arranged for Vondroušová to go back to train there. During this time, she trained for five days a week, two of which were in Štvanice, a few hours from her hometown. She had another international success at age 12, when she won the Nike Junior Tour International Masters in the United States, which was regarded as an unofficial 12-and-under world championship.[8] At age 15, she moved to Prague to train more regularly there.

Vondroušová has a strong athletic background on her mother's side. Her grandfather, František Frk, was the Czechoslovak national pentathlon champion in 1935.

Junior career

Vondroušová is a former world No. 1 junior. She made her debut on the ITF Junior Circuit at the age of 13 and won both the singles and doubles events at her first tournament, the Grade 5 San Michel International Tournament in Malta in April 2013. Later in the year, she won a higher-level Grade 4 singles event in Poland as well as a separate Grade 2 doubles event in the Czech Republic. Vondroušová made her Grade 1 debut with a singles semifinal in January 2014, which she followed with a second round loss in her debut at the highest-level Grade A tournaments in May. She entered her first junior Grand Slam events in May and had immediate success, reaching the semifinals at both the French Open and Wimbledon. In both tournaments, she lost to the eventual champions Daria Kasatkina and Jelena Ostapenko respectively. Vondroušová fared better in doubles at the French Open, finishing runner-up to the Romanian team of Ioana Ducu and Ioana Loredana Ro?ca alongside American CiCi Bellis in a match tiebreak.[13] Despite losing her opening singles matches at her last two Grade A tournaments of the year, the US Open and the Orange Bowl,[9][10] Vondroušová ended 2014 by winning the Orange Bowl doubles title with Bellis.

Vondroušová continued to have success in doubles in 2015, most notably winning her only two junior Grand Slam titles and three Grade-A[a] doubles events in total.[9][10] Although she lost her opening-round match at the Australian Open, she won the doubles title with compatriot Miriam Kolodziejová without dropping a set.[15] Vondroušová did not play another junior event until late May, instead opting to play events on the professional circuit. In her return, she won both the singles and doubles events at the Grade-A Trofeo Bonfiglio, again partnering with Kolodziejová. She defeated Charlotte Robillard-Millette in the singles final for her only career Grade-A singles title. With these titles, Vondroušová became the No. 1 ranked junior in the world for the first time.[16] While she lost in the semifinals at the French

marketa vondrousova wedding

Even though the 23-year-old Vondrousova got married quite young for today’s standards, her marriage is not a surprise, as she got engaged to Simek in August 2021, right after winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The WTA star then showed her engagement ring and said “my forever” to the man she had been dating for over five years before he became her fiancé.

The wedding took place in Chateau Mcely, a picturesque spa resort and hotel retreat in the Czech Republic. Vondrousova’s bridal look included a shoulderless lace wedding dress with a thigh slit and a long tail.

Stepan Simek is two years older than Vondrousova and is also a tennis player. As you can see in one of their wedding photos, all dressed up during the ceremony, they posed hugging on a tennis court with racquets in their hands.

Marketa Vondrousova marries long-time partner Stepan Simek

Vondrousova has already updated her name on Instagram to Marketa Simkova.

We’re awaiting Vondrousova’s return to competition. She hasn’t been on Tour since April, because of a small surgery she underwent to relieve recurring wrist pain she had been experiencing.

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