Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player
Nicole Vaidišová Štěpánková (Czech pronunciation: [ˈnɪkol ˈvajɟɪʃovaː]; born 23 April 1989) is a Czech former professional tennis player.
Vaidišová is an Australian Open and French Open semifinalist as well as a two-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon. She started playing tennis when she was six years old, enrolling to train at Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Bradenton, Florida. Her serve was considered her biggest weapon. Her powerful groundstrokes, with her serve, collaborated well together to produce an aggressive, all-round game. On 9 August 2006, at the age of 17 years, she became the 12th-youngest player in WTA Tour history to be ranked in the top 10. She achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 7, on 14 May 2007. Her form dipped shortly after, and at the time her retirement was announced in 2010, she was ranked at No. 177.
Her stepfather announced that she had retired in March 2010, citing "lack of interest in tennis" as the primary reason, but she returned to the sport in September 2014. However, in July 2016, she retired once more due to injuries.