37-year-old Lucie Hradecka has called time on her career, playing her final match in Guadalajara alongside Hao-Ching Chan, losing 4-6 1-6 to Lydumyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko. The former Doubles No. 4 hangs up her racquet after winning 26 doubles titles, three Grand Slams, four Fed Cups, and two Olympic medals, most of which were alongside her long-term partner Andrea Sestini Hlavackova, who also retired in 2022.
The Silent Hs
Hradecka’s most successful period definitely came alongside Andrea Sestini Hlavackova. The pair had a nickname, the “Silent Hs,” coined by Ben Rothenberg (though neither H in their names is actually silent). The pair played their first tournament together back in 2008 with instant success, coming away from their first two events with titles.
Hlavackova and Hradecka played all four slams together in 2009 and 2010 but would not get a deep run until 2011, when the Czechs broke through at the French Open. At just 24 and 26 years old, they beat formidable opponents such as Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova and Sania Mirza/Elena Vesnina to win their first slam without dropping a set. Hradecka also won the Fed Cup for the Czech Republic that season alongside Kveta Peschke, winning the deciding fifth rubber over Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina of Russia.
Though they would not win a slam in 2012, it was the pair’s winningest season, going 48-11. Hlavackova and Hradecka won four WTA titles, including Cincinnati while reaching slam finals at the US Open and Wimbledon, semifinals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. The pair also got a silver medal for the Czech Republic at the London Olympics and reached the final of the year-end championships.
The Czechs got more Slam glory in 2013 after struggling to get going in the first half of the season. The pair lifted the US Open trophy after defeating their bogey team, the Williams sisters, in the semifinals before coming back from a set down in the final to beat Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty. This would be Hlavackova and Hradecka’s only win as a pair over Serena and Venus in seven meetings (though Hradecka would beat them again). Hradecka also had her best mixed doubles season in 2013, winning the French Open and reaching the Australian Open final alongside Frantisek Cermak.
The pair split for the majority of the 2014 season to mixed success which led them to regroup for a couple of ITFs towards the end of the season as they were trying to raise their singles rankings at the time. Hlavackova and Hradecka continued their partnership into the 2015 season, the only year the two were unable to win a title together. Hradecka did reach a mixed doubles slam final though, going to the Roland Garros final alongside Marcin Matkowski.
Despite just three WTA finals and disappointing Slam results, the pair continued together into 2016, largely due to the Olympic element of that season. Hlavackova and Hradecka started the season very strongly with a run to the Australian Open final that was only ended by top seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. The pair lost in the Roland Garros quarterfinals to Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, metaphorically handing over the reins to a young and talented Czech team who went on to surpass them. This would also be the only time Hradecka did not reach the semifinals at the French Open between 2011 and 2017.
The Rio Olympics, the reason why the pair stayed together after 2015, would end in heartbreak for Hlavackova and Hradecka. The Czechs lost a painful semifinal to Martina Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky after two match points in the second set before succumbing to countrywomen Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova in the Bronze Medal match. Hradecka would acquire her second Olympic medal, though, in the mixed doubles, winning the Bronze Medal match with Radek Stepanek against Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna.
Hlavackova and Hradecka went on to win titles in Quebec and Moscow and reached the year-end finals before splitting for good. The pair came back together for one final tournament in Prague this year, Hlavackova coming back after four years away from the game as she interrupted her career to become a mother.
Post-Hlavackova Era
Hradecka teamed up with Katerina Siniakova for the 2017 season and though it would be her only season without a title outside of 2022 (Hradecka won New Haven alongside Julia Goerges in 2015), the Czechs still found a lot of success together. The pair made finals in Taipei, Indian Wells, Charleston, Prague, and most importantly, the US Open, which would be Hradecka’s last slam final.
In the following years, Hradecka played with multiple partners a season and found some success, continuing to be a solid Top 30 doubles player. The Czech’s most notable runs were Cincinnati titles with Ekaterina Makarova and Andreja Klepac in 2018 and 2019 respectively. In this time, Hradecka would be largely a non-factor at slams though, reaching just one quarterfinal between 2018 and 2020.
The veteran found some stability again in 2021, playing the second half of the season with Marie Bouzkova. The pair won titles in Birmingham and Prague and had quarterfinal runs at Wimbledon and the US Open. Hradecka started 2022 with Bouzkova but would find more success this season with Sania Mirza, for whom 2022 was also her final year on Tour.
Hradecka and Mirza reached finals in Strasbourg and Charleston as well as semifinals at Dubai, Doha, and Rome. The Czech would start switching up her teammates again after Wimbledon, playing with Hlavackova for her former partner’s farewell tournament in Prague before getting her moment in New York. Hradecka got to play alongside Linda Noskova in front of 23,000 people in the sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium, defeating Serena and Venus Williams in their final doubles match together. Hradecka would go on to play her home farewell match alongside Noskova as well in Ostrava before finishing with a two-tournament stretch alongside Hao-Ching Chan.
Singles Career
Hradecka’s singles results were definitely up and down throughout her career, peaking at No. 41 back in June 2011. The Czech originally broke into the Top 100 in 2009, dropped back out in 2010, and had her best singles period between February 2011 and May 2013, remaining a main-tour player throughout. Hradecka then dropped out of the Top 100 for two seasons before returning in 2015 after a third-round run out of qualifying at the Australian Open as well as deep runs as a qualifier at Charleston and Prague. That would be the Czech’s last hurrah in singles.
Hradecka reached seven WTA singles finals between 2008 and 2015 but would not be able to clinch a singles title on the main tour. She led by a set twice in finals, losing to Roberta Vinci 6-4 2-6 2-6 in Palermo 2011 and having her final cinderella run at Prague 2015 ended by Karolina Pliskova, 6-4 5-7 3-6 being the final scoreline.
The aforementioned 2015 Australian Open third round was Hradecka’s best-ever Slam singles run but the Czech’s career was not entirely devoid of excitement at big events. Though Hradecka made it past the third round at a slam or WTA 1000 just once in her career, her one run was incredibly impressive. Hradecka came out of qualifying to defeat Peng Shuai, Petra Kvitova, Ekaterina Makarova, and Samantha Stosur on the blue clay of Madrid back in 2012. The Czech’s run would only be ended by Serena Williams, who went 58-4 that season.
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