It has been three months since the gruesome incident which shook the tennis world when double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was robbed at knife-point at her home in Prostejov, Czech Republic on 20 December of last year. It left her with severe lacerations on the fingers of her left hand, her dominant hand.
Kvitova required emergency surgery to repair damaged nerves and tendons. The surgery took four hours to complete and was successful. Since then, the 27-year-old’s recovery has been steady and on track.
Developments post-surgery
Three days after the surgery, Kvitova received what she called, the best Christmas gift she could have wished for, as she was able to move her left hand once again. Three weeks later, she had all stitches on her wounds removed and had also begun to do light exercises with her fingers.
Moreover, her local tennis offered a reward amounting to $3850 for any information leading to the whereabouts of the suspect, a male in his thirties. He still remains at large till this day.
Then, in late January, Czech police revealed during an update on the investigation that Kvitova was slashed as part of a blackmail plot.
Tennis a huge motivation for the Czech, and her changed perspective on life
Very recently, Kvitova, currently ranked 15th in the world, took to social media to give fans an update on her recovery process. She started off saying that she is working really hard on her recovery.
The former world number two also wrote “I still can’t tell you when I will be back, but I can tell you that tennis is a huge motivation for me.”
She then added “My perspective on life has changed a lot and I am doing everything to give myself a second chance to be back on the court.”
No ‘concrete date’ set for return
Karen Tejkal, spokesman for Kvitova, told reporters “Petra's recovery is continuing as planned, but everything is up in the air as to her return.”
He also stated she is now able to use her left hand for daily routines without much complications. He added “Of course, the hand is weakened but at first glance you can't see that she was injured.”
Tejkal also mentioned that her psychological recovery has been encouraging and she had just completed fitness training at the Canary Islands, where she had also celebrated her 27th birthday two weeks ago.
He concluded saying that no one can determine an exact date as to her return.
Kvitova's 2016 in a nutshell
After a rough start to 2016, Kvitova rebounded well by claiming the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics and went on to finish the year in style, winning two titles in Wuhan and the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai.
She also finished runner-up in Luxembourg and made the quarterfinals of Beijing. Her last match was against Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia in the Fed Cup final last year.