Marketa Vondrousova endures inner turmoil with divorce announced from husband of two years after Stuttgart return to form
WTA
From the high of winning Wimbledon to losing her grandfather and now a divorce to her husband, it has not been the greatest of times for Marketa Vondrousova since reaching the pinnacle of her career in June last year. The 24-year-old has also had to contend with injury issues aplenty.
But she showed some green shoots in the past week in Stuttgart in the run towards Roland Garros where she made her emergence in reaching the final. She dumped out Aryna Sabalenka and only lost in the latter stages to an inspired Marta Kostyuk. Amidst all that though, she has broken up with her husband of two years, it has been confirmed on Tuesday.
She married Stepan Simek, a former junior tennis player in July 2022 after a one year engagement. Albeit the pair were technically childhood sweethearts after knowing each other since they were a lot younger. The two began dating in 2016 and Simek proposed shortly after Vondrousova won silver at the Tokyo Olympics. The couple married a year later and he was a common theme at Wimbledon due to him having to stay at home to look after their cat.
But he has left home and has taken the cat with him as per Vondrousova. "I'm definitely not having a happy time in the last few weeks," the world No 7 told Czech publication Blesk. "Our marriage with Stepan ended a few weeks ago, we broke up. He moved out with the cat."
"It just didn't work out for us. It wasn't what we both imagined, so we agreed not to be together anymore. Now we are formally resolving the divorce, but we have agreed on everything."
Marketa Vondrousova (pictured) is finalising her divorce from husband Stepan, a key part of one of her greatest achievements.
This after only saying goodbye to her grandfather in recent weeks. She returned home early from Indian Wells to be with him as he passed away after a cancer battle. "I learned in America that he was no longer well, so I definitely wanted to see him again and say goodbye," she said. "I am very glad that I flew and that I made it. He still perceived that we were together."
"My grandfather was the person who stood at the very beginning of my tennis career, he was there for everything important. Without him, I would never have achieved what I have achieved in my career."
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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