Kvitova bids farewell to the place that turned her from a 'nobody to somebody'

LONDON :It has been 14 years, or 5,113 days to be precise, since a beaming Petra Kvitova saw her name being added in gold print to the famed green honours board at Wimbledon moments after she had held aloft the Venus Rosewater Dish for the first time.

Yet on Tuesday, after she signed off on her 17-year Wimbledon adventure with a first-round 6-3 6-1 defeat by American 10th seed Emma Navarro, the Czech wasted little time in giving a vivid blow-by-blow account of that magical fortnight.

"I do remember very clearly what happened out there. I do remember (the semis) with Vika (Victoria Azarenka) was three sets. It was always big battles to play with her," said the 35-year-old Kvitova, who gave birth to her son during last year's Wimbledon fortnight.

"To be honest, I don't know where the (6-3 6-4) performance came from in that final (against Maria Sharapova). I was very grateful that it came in the right moment, that I served it out for the match. That was something which I will never be able to describe because it was such a surprise.

"I do remember the happiness I had when I was holding the trophy. I do remember my English wasn't in a good place either, so I was more nervous for the press conferences than for the matches."

On Tuesday, she proved that her English had also come a long way as she charmed the Court One crowd with her farewell speech and even announced her own press conference to the world's media.

"I will miss Wimbledon, I will miss tennis, I will miss you fans but I am ready for the next chapter of life as well," the 2011 and 2014 champion told the crowd after receiving a standing ovation.

"I can't wait to be back as a member."

There really is no place like Wimbledon for Kvitova - it is the only Grand Slam stage where