Kvitova hasn’t played professional tennis since the China Open in 2023. On that occasion, she lost in the second round to Liudmila Samsonova and at 33 was edging close to retirement.

Absence appears to make the heart grow fonder, however. As a result, Kvitova will now look forward to a first-round clash against Great Britain star Jodie Burrage in her comeback match.

The 34-year-old will be itching to get back on the court and will have undoubtedly missed competitive tennis after taking a sabbatical from the WTA Tour to welcome a child into the world.

Petra Kvitova shares how she feels ahead of tennis return

This will be a big moment for the former world number one. For a player who has won two Wimbledon titles, playing at the ATX Open is small fry but giving a good account of herself will be something she’s keen to do.

Ahead of the tournament, Kvitova has shared how she feels about returning to the game and it seems she’s feeling good but doesn’t want to put too much expectation on her shoulders.

She told the WTA official website: “I don’t expect anything basically. I’m here, that’s already a big deal for me. Sometimes, I’m really surprised by myself. Like, why I did it (the comeback)? But I think I would have regretted it if I didn’t come back.

“I’m not putting any goals on myself, I will never play as good as I was playing when I was winning tournaments. Yeah, we will see. I want to enjoy myself playing tennis, and I think it will take time.

“I tried to explain to everybody that I came back because I love it. I miss tennis, I love tennis itself since I was four. So I think the love for the sport took me back to tennis. I missed the hard work, the sweat, that’s why I’m here.

“I don’t know for how long, or how long I’m going to enjoy it, or how my body’s going to feel. I think it will be very tough in the beginning. But we will see how I manage everything. We’ll see how it goes.”

What Maria Sharapova said about Petra Kvitova after Wimbledon 2011 final

Sharapova was the heavy favourite during her second Wimbledon final after winning her first title when she was just 17-years-old in 2004.

The Russian was beaten, however, with Kvitova securing a comprehensive 6-3, 6-4 victory over the player who was in fine form at the time.

After losing to her, Sharapova was full of praise and said in her press conference that her left-handed nature made life difficult for her.

She said: “Uhm, yeah. Well, she used that to her advantage a lot today. Uhm, obviously there are a lot more righties on the tour than lefties. This was the second lefty I played in the tournament.
But, yeah, besides that, she played a terrific match.”

Sharapova finished her interview with a brilliant answer when asked whether Kvitova would win further Grand Slams after collecting her first in London.

The 2004 winner said: “She’s a Grand Slam champion. She has a tremendous amount of potential to go even further and achieve many great things. If she keeps playing like that and keeps her level up, absolutely. She has a great game for it, yeah.”

Kvitova has absolutely nothing to prove on the tour and it will be great to have a two-time Wimbledon champion back on the tour after 17 long months out of action.