Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova reveals struggles over family grief kept her away from tennis as she goes through a divorce – and is relying on her sister after her husband left.

Marketa Vondrousova has opened up about her difficult “last few weeks”, with her divorce following the death of her grandfather, Stanislav, which saw her prematurely leave Indian Wells earlier this year.

Vondrousova set the tennis world on fire last summer when she became the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon, beating Ons Jabbeur 6-4 6-4 to claim her first Grand Slam title.

The 24-year-old added glory in SW19 to a second-place finish at the French Open and 2020 Olympic silver.

Yet earlier this year, she pulled out of Indian Wells early and revealed that the reason behind it was with her grandfather, who was diagnosed with cancer and whose health was deteriorating.

In an interview with Czech publication Blesk, Vondrousova opened up about what has been an understandably difficult time, but insisted she still looks forward to getting out on the pitch in what is expected to be a very busy few months at Roland Garros, Wimbledon. and the Olympic Games.

She paid a moving tribute to her grandfather, Stanislav, in an Instagram post in March.

Vondrousova revealed she broke up with husband Stepan Simek just nine months after celebrating her Wimbledon triumph.

“I learned in America that he was no longer well, so I really wanted to see him again and say goodbye. I’m very glad I flew and made it. He still perceived that we were together …

“Even now it’s hard for me to talk about it. We realize what is important in the world and essential in life, that tennis is definitely not everything.

“My grandfather was the person who was there at the very beginning of my tennis career, he was there for everything that was important. Without him, I would never have achieved what I achieved in my career.

“I was with my family, my parents and my sister. We supported and held each other, we all loved Grandpa very much.

“And we said goodbye to him together, even though there was no public funeral.”

She added: “After my grandfather died there was no point in going back to America and then qualifying for the Billie Jean King Cup was on the agenda, where we got a wild card and n We didn’t play. So I waited for Stuttgart and my favorite clay court. And I was pretty good to her after such a break.

Last March, Vondrousova took to Instagram to pay tribute to her grandfather in a touching post that included several photos of her as a child and on her wedding day with her family.

“Thanks for everything Grandpa, you were the best,” she wrote.

Vondrousova became the first unseeded player to win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon.

Vondrousova (right) admitted that she would not have reached the heights of her career without the influence of Stanislav

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Vondrousova and her husband of almost two years were divorcing, with the tennis star admitting that “it just didn’t work out for us.”

The 24-year-old married Stepan Simek, two years her senior and a former junior tennis player, in July 2022 after a year of engagement.

Simek, whose promising tennis career ended with injury, and Vondrousova had known each other since they were teenagers.

The two began dating in 2016 before Simek, an IT manager in the Czech Republic, proposed in August 2021, shortly after Vondrousova won silver at the Tokyo Olympics.

“Our marriage to Stepan ended a few weeks ago, we broke up. He moved with the cat.

“It just didn’t work for us. It wasn’t what we both had imagined, so we agreed to no longer be together. Now we are formally resolving the divorce, but we agree on everything.

Simek made headlines last summer when he missed his wife’s impressive Wimbledon run while looking after Frankie, their sphynx cat, in Prague.

The 26-year-old was on hand for Vondrousova’s first Grand Slam final of 2019 when she lost in straight sets to Ashleigh Barty in the French Open final.

But after beating Elina Svitolina 6-3 6-3 in the semi-final, Vondrousova revealed she had texted her husband to discuss the possibility of him traveling to London for the final and said that they agreed to call a cat sitter.

Vondrousova admitted tennis was ‘not everything’ after rushing home to be with loved ones

Vondrousova’s husband stayed home in Prague during her Wimbledon run last year to look after their cat called Frankie (right)

Vondrousova admitted she was “looking forward” to a busy summer period with plenty of tennis to play in the coming months.

‘I’m eager to! I will now play the nearest tournaments in Madrid and Rome, and in Paris in August I will defend the silver medal. The Olympic Games take place every four years, this will be an exceptional tournament. I am slowly starting to organize a family trip so that my loved ones can encourage me

“In other tournaments, we never know what day and what court we will start on. At Wimbledon, the defenders have a head start, it’s a big habit.

“I’m really looking forward to it, but I’m already starting to get pretty stressed, another match at center, and right away in the first round. It is clear that there will be certain expectations, so I will try to meet them in one way or another.