Kvitova to miss six months after attack: doctor
TWO-TIME Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will need at least six months’ rest after her left hand was badly cut in a home invasion, the doctor who carried out her operation said late on Wednesday.
“If we’re talking about returning to playing, it will be about six months,” surgeon Radek Kebrle said a day after performing a four-hour operation on the Czech star’s injured left hand.
A spokesperson for Kvitova estimated that the world No11 would not even be able to grip a racquet for at least three months while recovering after fighting off a knife-wielding burglar at her home in the Czech town of Prostejov.
“Petra will be on bed rest for 14 days, she will begin slow rehabilitation at around 6-8 weeks post operation,” read a statement from her management.
“The best-case scenario is that Petra will be able to return to the tennis court after six months.
“It is too soon to specify when precisely she can return to competition, but Petra is ready to do everything she can to get back competing at the highest level,” it added.
“It’s a serious injury, a quite big one, and we must approach it from this point of view,” warned Kebrle, adding that he and his colleagues would do their best “so that everything was like before”.
The 26-year-old suffered an injury to all five fingers as well as two nerves in her left hand, her racquet hand, after defending herself against the intruder.
“She suffered the injuries after grabbing the knife of the attacker. The operation lasted as long because the wounds were intricate and one had to go slowly, with lots of care, to avoid causing any more damage,” the doctor explained.
“She’s young, in good health and has long, skinny fingers,” said Kebrle, adding that the surgery “went very well, with no complications”.