Petra Martic is a Croatian professional tennis player who was born on January 19, 1991, in Split, Croatia. After starting tennis at a young age, the young Croat was forced to mature early on, with her dad passing away when she was five. She hails her mum for the work she did in her childhood in response to this and hails it as the reason she wants to play her best tennis.
After a successful junior career, she first started out on the WTA Tour in 2007, with her main draw debut coming at that season’s Miami Open. This propelled her on, and the following season, she reached the quarterfinal stage of the Slovenia Open, eventually losing to Julia Goerges.
Fast forward four years and Martic’s presence on tour started to increase. 2012 was her first shot at some WTA silverware at the Malaysian Open. Unfortunately for her, the stellar run that took her all the way to the final was cut short due to injury, meaning she had to retire in the final against Hsieh Su-Wei.
Later that season, she had an unforgettable run at Roland Garros, reaching the fourth round and beating Grand Slam champion Marion Bartoli on the way, which racked up her first-ever Top-10 win. Her progress was soon set to be hampered, however, with the next three years being on and off for the Croatian.
This did not put her off, though, and she was always determined to come back. She certainly hadn’t played her best tennis yet at that moment, as 2019 saw her clinch her maiden tour title in Istanbul. Some steady results considerably helped her ranking climb, meaning she was seeded for all the Grand Slams that year.
After performing the best she ever had at the All England Club (fourth round), she broke into the Top 20. This was not the summit for her, as she was to go on and reach her career-best ranking of world number 14 in 2020.
Not all hope was lost on the trophy front, either, as she grabbed her second bit of silverware in 2022 at the Lausanne Open. As for now, the Croatian goes in search of a third title, all the while enjoying the years she has left on tour.
