Petra Kvitova attacked: Tennis players who were victims of criminal violence

Petra Kvitova

The two-time Wimbledon champion will be sidelined for six months due to her hand injuries sustained during the burglary at her apartment

The Czech first came into prominence after beating then World No.1 Dinara Safina in the third round of the 2009 US Open which was followed by a semi-final appearance at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She soon entered the Top 10 of the WTA Rankings before winning her first Grand Slam title at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships by beating Maria Sharapova in the final which helped her to a career-best ranking of World No.2.She won a second Wimbledon title in 2014 with a win over Eugenie Bouchard in the final. After a series of mixed results in 2015, Kvitova had a miserable start to 2016 but during the last few months of the Tour, she had some good results that included winning the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics followed by victories at the Wuhan Open and the WTA Elite Trophy at Zhuhai. She ended the year ranked 11^th.Just as things were going her way, disaster struck Kvitova as she was attacked in her apartment in Prostejov by a burglar posing as a utility man who wasn’t aware of her identity at first. Once he knew who she was, a struggle in the bathroom ensued which led to a knife against Kvitova’s throat. She was able to escape but sustained deep lacerations on four fingers of her left hand which cut and tore ligaments.Following the incident, Kvitova stated that she was “fortunate to be alive” and that the injury was severe but was optimistic of making a return to tennis. After undergoing surgery successfully, Kvitova’s PR manager has stated that she will be sidelined for six months in order to fully recover from the injury. Even though Kvitova is optimistic that she will return strongly, the severity of the injury is bound to affect her, physically and mentally.