Kvitova continues comeback after stabbing
LONDON — Petra Kvitova still has not regained full strength in her left hand, the one she uses to swing a tennis racket so well that she won Wimbledon twice — and the one that was stabbed by an intruder at her home in the Czech Republic late last year.
Less than seven months after that attack, Kvitova somehow carries the status of the closest thing to a favorite at the All England Club, where play in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament begins Monday
Not that she is all that concerned, understandably, with others’ thoughts about whether she can add to the trophies she clutched at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014.
“I am just happy to be back on the court and that’s it,” she said. “I will be focusing. on myself and not thinking any further than my first match.”
As for how things have changed for her, Kvitova said Saturday at Wimbledon: “I am little bit differ- ent on the court — and off the court, too. I think I see life and tennis from [a] little bit different angle than before. I think that before, I was very nervous before every match. Now I [see] that I shouldn’t be. There’s more important things in the life that should be more important than just tennis.”
Simply competing these days is an accomplishment in itself for someone who initially was told there was a possibility it might never happen again. All five fingers on her left hand were injured in the late December knifing, and she needed surgery.
The 27-year-old Kvitova, who has been ranked as high as No. 2 and is seeded 11th at Wimbledon, began practicing only a couple of weeks before the French Open started in May.
In her comeback’s second tournament, last week on grass at Birmingham, Kvitova earned the title. And she noticed a tendency to be more aggressive during points.