Two-plus years after surviving knife attack, World No. 2 tennis player thriving
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic has been through more trauma in the past few years than many experience in a lifetime. So, a tennis match that stretches into three sets and lasts 213 points over 2 hours 36 minutes is barely anything to blink about — especially when you end up winning.
Kvitova, 29, the world’s second-ranked player, defeated 25th-ranked Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Saturday at the Miami Open, giving herself a better chance to take the world’s No. 1 spot should she at minimum advance to the final next week — an opportunity made more tangible by top-ranked Naomi Osaka’s upset loss later Saturday to Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei.
“It’s a much better feeling than a few months ago, definitely,’’ said Kvitova, who had lost to the 22-year-old Vekic the last time they met in January at the St. Petersburg quarterfinal, where Kvitova was defending her title. “I knew what to expect.’’
Kvitova’s arduous, but ultimately uplifting road back from a brutal home attack in December 2016 has been a remarkable comeback saga. Last month in a Prague courthouse she gave testimony in the trial of the knife-wielding 33-year-old man who she let into her home under the guise that he was a workman inspecting the hot-water system in her apartment building.
“He asked me to turn on the hot water tap and at that moment I had a knife against my neck,’’ Kvitova, who is left-handed, said during testimony. “I grabbed it with both hands. I held the [10-inch] blade with my left hand. I snatched it away, I fell on the floor and there was blood everywhere,’’ she said. “...All the fingers on my left hand had been cut, and the nerves in my thumb and index finger severed. Even today, the mobility is not 100-percent. There is no sensitivity in the tips [of my thumb and index finger.]’’
Kvitova underwent four hours of surgery that included repairing tendons in all five fingers. She returned to competition in May 2017 at the French Open, then reached her first Grand Slam final this past January at the Australian Open, losing to current No. 1 Osaka 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 after being one win away from reaching her first No. 1 ranking.
She won the Olympic bronze in 2016 and a WTA Tour-leading five titles last year, but Kvitova has never achieved No. 1 in her sport.
“Right now it is not really important to me,’’ Kvitova said Saturday of the top ranking. “Important was that I won today. I did have few chances to be world No. 1 already in my career, and I didn’t just make it. But I’m still here and still fighting. We’ll see what the future brings. But for now, I’m really fine.
“Actually, I already achieved big things before, and since my comeback, as well. So, I’m really satisfied with everything already.”
She said she has gotten “used to’’ the lack of mobility in her repaired hand and fingers. “It will be never 100 [percent] anyway,’’ she said. “My movement, it’s not great. Those two fingers are, I don’t know, gone as well. I just do what I can. Sometimes, of course, it’s not great when I play tennis. I’m trying enough to compensate it.
“I have the same racket as I did before. I didn’t really change anything. I’m really glad that it’s still working.”
Added Kvitova: “It feels OK. It’s no pain. That’s good.’’
Kvitova next meets 21st-ranked Caroline Garcia of France on Monday at Hard Rock Stadium. The two are tied at three wins apiece in head-to-head play, their last match won in two sets by Garcia at Beijing in 2017.
“She is a tough opponent, for sure,’’ Kvitova said. “When she’s on fire, she’s on fire. It’s really difficult to do anything against her. But I need to wait for my chances again. I mean, she has a great length of the ball, she plays aggressively with the flat shots. She’s a good mover, as well. She’s a very athletic girl.
“She’s on the way back to her great form as she had two years ago. It will be nice one.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2019 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Two-plus years after surviving knife attack, World No. 2 tennis player thriving."
