Kvitova back after ‘biggest fight’
Czech stab victim returns to court ahead of schedule, faces Boserup in French Open first round
>> PARIS: Petra Kvitova will return to tennis at the French Open having already won her biggest battle — saving the fingers so badly damaged fighting off a knife-wielding burglar.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova, 27, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2012, suffered career-threatening injuries to her left playing hand when she tackled an intruder at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov in December.
The terrifying attack left the popular Kvitova fighting to save her hand and her career.
But almost six months on, she is ready to return to the sport, claiming that the nightmare incident has left her with a fresh perspective on life.
“I actually already won my biggest fight. I stayed in life and I have all my fingers,” the 6ft (1.82m) Kvitova told reporters at a sweltering Roland Garros on Friday.
She still carries the physical and mental scars, making her increasingly wary of the people around her.
“I didn’t sleep well the days after. I don’t really have nightmares,” she added.
“From the beginning I was really feeling really weird when I went in the city or somewhere.
“I was always staring at the guys and looking to see if there are no strangers there. With time, it’s better. But of course I’m more actively watching the people around me.”
Kvitova was told by her doctors that she may never play tennis again as a result of the attack.
That was an earth-shattering realisation for a woman who has made over US$22 million, reached No.2 in the world and counts the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon crowns amongst her 19 career titles.
“I knew this day would come but sometimes when I was watching tennis on TV, I didn’t really feel great. I felt like the tennis was taken away from me, and it wasn’t my decision.
“Suddenly I couldn’t do what I love. So I’m happy that I can be here.”
As 15th seed, Kvitova will face Julia Boserup of the United States in the first round.
She may have a chance to win the tournament with the absence of several stars.
Serena Williams’ bombshell pregnancy announcement last month triggered a sequence of events that has left this year’s women’s draw at Roland Garros wide open.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner learned she was pregnant just two days before starting a successful assault on January’s Australian Open and won’t return before next year.
The French federation then refused to award Maria Sharapova a wild card for the tournament with the Russian on the comeback trail following a 15-month doping suspension.
Victoria Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion, hasn’t played since last year’s Roland Garros after the birth of her son.
Simona Halep, the 2014 runnerup, established herself as arguably the leading challenger by winning the Madrid Open before reaching the Rome final, but an ankle injury has cast doubt over her status.
World No.1 Angelique Kerber has endured a miserable claycourt season, losing early in Stuttgart and crashing out in her Rome opener, while retiring from her last-16 clash in Madrid with a lower back injury.
Defending champion Garbine Muguruza’s fortunes on the surface have proved almost as bleak.
Her only three wins came in Rome where she reached the semi-finals only for a neck injury to force her to quit against eventual champion Elina Svitolina, the fourth time the Spaniard has failed to complete a match in 2017.