Know the mystery behind tennis couple Nicole Vaidisova-Radek Stepanek's split

New Delhi: It was quite a surprise when Nicole Vaidisova, once the most promising WTA teenager, decided to give up the sport at the early phase of her career and marry fellow tennis player Radek Stepanek, 11 years her senior. Radek, who had an image of seducing tennis beauties, due to his previous engagement with tennis legend Martina Hingis, started dating Vaidisova in late 2007 and their relationship culminated in marriage in July 2010 at Prague. After three years of marriage, the Czech couple divorced in 2013. The reason behind the split was rumors circulated all over that Stepanek is dating another fellow Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova. Vaidisova's career slump seemed associated with her involvement with Radek, and ever since they got married little was heard about her, while her husband continued his career. Now the former World number 7, 24-year-old Vaidisova has decided to return to the courts. Vaidisova, who will turn 25 in April, won six tournaments and reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2007. Vaidisova was an Australian Open and French Open semifinalist and also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Vaidisova 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, along with her serve, collaborated well together to produce an aggressive, all-round game. On 9 August 2006, at the age of 17 years, three months, and two weeks, 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. From March 2009, she was coached by her stepfather, Ales Kodat, who replaced David Felgate. By the end of 2009, she had hired top coach Eric van Harpen. Her stepfather announced that she had retired in March 2010, citing "lack of interest in tennis" as the primary reason.