“My body still needs more time": Former world No. 1 confirms 2025 season is over due to ankle issues

The former World No. 1 Karolína Plíšková has ended her 2025 season after just two Challenger tournaments, and with only one victory since her return. The Czech tennis player was out of action for more than a year due to physical complications that led to two surgeries on her left ankle in September 2024.

Since then, Plíšková stepped away from the courts and dedicated her time to working on her physical recovery for her return. The former Wimbledon runner-up postponed her return to competition several times and only reappeared in an official tournament on September 15 at the Challenger 125 Caldas da Rainha, where she obtained a wildcard.

The Czech debuted with a victory over Tessah Andrianjafitrimo (No. 279) in three sets, but then fell in the second round to Polina Iatcenko (No. 267) in three sets. After an interesting stint in Portugal, Plíšková traveled to Samsun, Turkey for another Challenger, where she lost in the first round to World No. 198 Lina Gjorcheska.

Plíšková at least managed to reappear in the rankings—currently as World No. 1051, although still without returning to a WTA-level tournament. Although she expected to play a handful of extra tournaments in the final part of the season to gain rhythm, Plíšková ultimately chose to close out the 2025 season and prepare for 2026, as announced on social media.

“It felt so good to finally compete again, but this year has been a tough one overall and my body still needs more time to adapt. So that’s it for 2025 — see you all next season! 🥹💪 Thank you so much for all the love and support, always ❤️”

Plíšková has had a distinguished career, with 17 professional titles and more than $26 million in earnings, reaching the top of the rankings in 2017, a position she held for 9 weeks. The 33-year-old Czech is not giving up yet and hopes to return to the courts in 2026 for the Australian swing.

However, good news is reaching the family of Karolína Plíšková these same days, after her younger sister Kristýna Plíšková announced the birth of her second child. The tennis player—who reached a career-high ranking of World No. 58—introduced her son to the world on social media, whom she had with Slovak footballer David Hancko.

The newest member of the Hancko-Plíšková family is named Dominik and quickly received greetings from several important figures from both football and tennis, including fellow Czechs Barbora Strýcová and Lucie Šafářová—both former teammates of Kristýna Plíšková on the Czech Billie Jean King Cup team.