LONDON — (AP) — This year's visit to Wimbledon is special for Petra Kvitova.

It marks her return to competition at the All England Club — the site of her two greatest triumphs as a professional tennis player — after missing the event last year while on maternity leave.

And it also marks her farewell to the grass-court Grand Slam tournament she won in 2011 and 2014: Kvitova, a 35-year-old left-hander from the Czech Republic, announced 1 1/2 weeks ago that she plans to leave the tour after the U.S. Open, which ends in September.

"It's crazy to see that she's retiring, because I remember playing her when I just started," said Aryna Sabalenka, 27, the three-time major champion who is seeded No. 1 at the All England Club. "I'm kind of sad. I was thinking when I saw the news: 'Come on. Give it try. Why? Why would you retire? Keep going.'"

Kvitova, who received a wild-card invitation from the tournament, was scheduled to play in the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday against No. 10 seed Emma Navarro of the United States.

“It’ll be amazing, for sure. It’s my favorite tournament. It always has been and it always will be. So it’ll be very nice to be back,” Kvitova said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s always brought me so many memories. Some really good memories, of course. But also bad memories, because losing with the pressure there is hard. Even with the two best results of my career, I do feel like sometimes the losses were very, very painful. But at the end of the day, winning two titles is what counts the most.”

Kvitova's first two appearances at the tournament she refers to as “Wimby” did not go perfectly. She lost her opening matches in both 2008 and 2009.

But the following year, she made it all the way the semifinals. And then, in 2011, Kvitova beat Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Three years later, Kvitova earned her second trophy, defeating Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 in the title match.

“It took me a while,” Kvitova said, “to get used to the grass.”

Kvitova, who's been ranked as high as No. 2 but is currently outside the top 500 because of her absence and a 1-6 record since her February comeback, also associates two other key memories with Wimbledon. Jiri Vanek, her coach since 2016, proposed to Kvitova at Centre Court and they're now married. Their first child, a son named Petr, was born during the middle weekend of the 2024 fortnight.

Kvitova described her 17 months away from the tour as feeling akin to just a short break.

“It actually feels like I never quit. It feels like I’ve been here every year,” she said before returning to Grand Slam action at the French Open in May. “My mindset is still in a good place, so it feels good to be here. And my game is getting better.”

Motherhood does present its challenges, as for any working mom. The biggest difficulty, Kvitova said, has been being away from her family when they don't accompany her when she is playing.

“Traveling together is not easy sometimes, either. The worst part is the logistics that come with it. Having so much stuff. Being in the hotel room it can be a little tough, especially when they’re small. He is starting to crawl and everything, so it’s a mess everywhere,” she said. “But it also is fun. He’s a very good boy, so that makes it all a little bit easier.”

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

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