Lucie Safarova had been due to play a charity event with Petra Kvitova in Brno, the Czech Republic’s second biggest city, on the day Kvitova was attacked. Photo: Reuters
Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/tennis/article/2056381/full-recovery-likely-petra-kvitova-after-surgery-left-hand-following Tennis
Full recovery likely for Petra Kvitova after surgery on left hand following knife attack
Surgeon expects two-time Wimbledon champion to resume her tennis career, but she won’t be able to put any pressure on the injured hand for three months
The Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova faces a long recovery after suffering severe injuries to her left hand when attacked by an intruder in her home. Photo: Reuters
The chief surgeon who repaired Petra Kvitova’s badly lacerated playing hand in a delicate four-hour operation said on Wednesday he is confident she will be able to resume her tennis career once it has healed.
The two-time Wimbledon champion was stabbed by a knife-wielding intruder in her home in the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Early indications showed the Czech world No 11 could well make a recovery and return to tennis, where she has been a mainstay in the top rankings for the past five years.
“The scale of the injury is serious, but Petra is young and strong, according to the surgeon, who sees no reason why she could not return to playing tennis,” said Karel Tejkal, spokesman for the Czech Fed Cup team.
Kvitova had said on social media before undergoing surgery that the attack by an individual with a knife had left her “shaken, but fortunate to be alive”.
The assault took place in her flat in the city of Prostejov, about 260km southeast of Prague, the location of a tennis club where she, men’s world No 10 Tomas Berdych and other top-ranked Czech players often train.
Czech media reported the intruder presented himself to Kvitova as a boiler inspector.
“In my attempt to defend myself, I was badly injured on my left hand,” Kvitova said on Twitter. “The injury is severe and I will need to see specialists, but if you know anything about me I am strong and I will fight this.”
Czech-born tennis great Martina Navratilova said on Twitter: “Just finding out about @Petra Kvitova and the awful stabbing and injury to her hand – pulling for you Petra.”
“What happened to Petra, can happen to any of us. I got goosebumps from it,” Safarova told news website Aktualne.cz.
Czech-born tennis great Martina Navratilova said on Twitter: “Just finding out about @Petra Kvitova and the awful stabbing and injury to her hand – pulling for you Petra.”
World No 3 Agnieszka Radwanska Tweeted: “My thoughts are with @Petra Kvitova. Terrible news.”
“What has happened to me was not pleasant at all, but it is already behind me,” Kvitova said.
The hard-hitting left-hander rose to No 2 in 2011 when she won the first of her two Wimbledon singles titles.
She slipped in the rankings this year but showed improved form in recent months, winning the Wuhan Open title in October and the season-ending WTA Elite trophy in November.
In 1993, then-world number one Monica Seles was stabbed courtside during a break at a tournament in Germany by a man who admitted having an obsession with her rival Steffi Graf. The attack forced Seles out of tennis for two years.