Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, 24, reveals she’s getting divorced from husband of two years – and he’s taking the cat he missed her run to the SW19 final to look after!

Reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova has revealed she broke up with her husband two years ago, just months after he celebrated her triumph on Center Court.

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

Simek, whose promising tennis career was ended by injury, and Vondrousova had known each other since their teenage years.

The two started 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.

The couple married a year later, but their marriage ended on the rocks and the Wimbledon champion revealed her husband had moved away and taken her beloved cat with him.

Vondrousova’s husband stayed home in Prague during her Wimbledon run last year to care for their cat named Frankie (right)

Vondrousova became the first unseeded Wimbledon women’s singles champion last year

“I definitely haven’t had a happy time in the last few weeks,” the world number 7 told the Czech news outlet Pale.

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

‘We just couldn’t do it. It wasn’t what either of us imagined, so we agreed not to be together anymore. 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 caring for Frankie, their sphinx cat, in Prague.

The 26-year-old was at Vondrousova’s first Grand Slam final in 2019 when she lost in straight sets to Ashleigh Barty in the Roland-Garros final.

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

‘He is [Simek] I’ll come tomorrow with my sister. “We texted the cat sitter to come to our house,” she said.

Simek took her place in her wife’s box for the final and cried as she defeated No. 6 seed Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4 to win the first Grand Slam tournament of her career.

Earlier in the tournament, Vondrousova had credited her husband with inspiring her comeback against Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals.

With the forecast predicting rain, play was halted for 20 minutes to allow the roof of Court One to close, with the American leading 3-1 in the deciding set.

When play resumed, Pegula took a 4–1 lead before Vondrousova won the next five matches in a row to secure her place in the semi-finals.

An emotional Simek cried as he watched his wife beat Ons Jabeur in the final

Simek flew to London to be with his wife for the final and cheered her on from her box

Simek proposed to Vondrousova in August 2021 after returning from the Tokyo Olympics

Vondrousova said her divorce from her husband was agreed on amicable terms

And Vondrousova revealed her husband’s motivational talk had inspired her comeback.

“I actually haven’t seen my coach,” she said.

‘I was sitting alone in the waiting room. I just talked to my husband. We spoke on the phone. He just said, “Try to fight, you’re playing well, you’re playing a great game.”

‘That was it. I think the break really helped. It was good.’

Simek’s divorce comes just a month after Vondrousova returned home early from the Indian Wells Open to be with her grandfather, who was treated for cancer and died just days later.

“I heard in America that he was no longer doing well, so I definitely wanted to see him again and say goodbye,” she said.

‘I’m very happy that I flew and that I succeeded. He still noticed that we were together.

‘My grandfather was the person who started my tennis career, he was there for everything that was important. Without him I would never have achieved what I have achieved in my career.’