Emotional Kvitova caps ‘fairy-tale’ comeback – just 187 days after knife attack
Czech lifts Birmingham title to seal her recovery Barty full of admiration for her brave conqueror
A mere 187 days since having her serving hand sliced open by an attacker’s knife, Petra Kvitova is the first lady of the English lawns once more.
It took a surgeon four hours to repair the physical damage, after the blade slashed through tendons in all four of her fingers and thumb, but it required every drop of the Czech’s emotional fortitude to trust that she could strike the ball with her former power again.
A title in only her second tournament back? In this year of comebacks in tennis, her restoration is surely the most stirringly improbable of all.
Kvitova in her element on grass is a sight to behold. Just ask Eugenie Bouchard, who in 2014 took three games off her in the most onesided Wimbledon ladies’ final of the past 25 years.
She was in a similarly fearsome frame of mind for this Birmingham final yesterday, winning 17 of the last 18 points for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, who was returning from her own leave of absence to pursue a career in cricket. At a time when few had expected to see her in contention, Kvitova is, barely believably, among the favourites for what she still endearingly calls “the Wimbledon”.
Any hand or wrist injuries, let alone those of Kvitova’s severity, can prove intractable problems at tour level. But it is not the constant physiotherapy that has been her most awkward obstacle. To be in any fit state to contest a match, let alone win a trophy, she has needed to sublimate the trauma of being attacked in her own home and having a knife held against her throat.
The fact that she has rallied so emphatically from such an ordeal attests to the resilience that she has always identified as her greatest strength.
She had her fragile moments last month at Roland Garros, where she reached the second round of the French Open amid the maelstrom of interest whipped up by her decision to rejoin the fold.
“The worst was in Paris, when I couldn’t put the bad thoughts away,” Kvitova said. “This time, I was much better. Actually, I got a bit emotional during my final service game, but it was just for a while. In a way, I’m happy that it came, because it meant a lot that I was still able to play well after that. Mentally, I’m getting better every week.”
It was the morning of Dec 20 last year when Kvitova, alone in her apartment in Prostejov, Czech Republic, was subject to a vicious assault by a man who had gained entry on the pretence of checking the utility meter. A struggle ensued in the bathroom, with Kvitova breaking free, but not without sustaining grievous lacerations to her left hand. Within hours, she announced: “If you know anything about me, I am strong and I will fight this.”
This astonishing feat here in peaceful Edgbaston represented the fulfilment of that promise.
When Monica Seles was stabbed in the back, mid-match, by a mentally disturbed fan in Hamburg in 1993, she was never the same again. She wrote in her autobiography of being engulfed by darkness, unable even to take a short walk outside. Kvitova, for now, has withstood the torment with extraordinary poise. She is still the same obdurate competitor on court, screaming “Pojd!” (Czech for “Come on”) after every winner, and still the same ebullient soul away from it.
“Right now I’m very tired,” she said, looking anything but. “All week the pressure on body and mind has been so intense. It took so much more energy, I think. But I’m very, very happy – I didn’t expect this. It’s a kind of fairy tale.”
Certain scars endure. The shock- ing incident in Prostejov remains the subject of a police investigation, while Kvitova acknowledges that her hand will never be rehabilitated to its original level of function. And yet somehow, it was potent enough here to help her seize her first silverware on grass for three years, with her serve firing ominously after a ragged opening set and some of her groundstrokes unleashed at over 85mph.
Ranking this title as by far the most poignant of her 20 to date, she explained: “I’ve been through a very difficult time in my life, and it wasn’t about the tennis, but to come back healthy and alive and to move my fingers properly. This is clearly something special, a bonus. This is why I fought so hard to come back. I’m here to play my best and to win trophies, and I’m proud of myself that I did it.”
Early on her road back to this coronation, Kvitova cut by her own admission a wary, frightened figure, scanning the faces of strangers in local bars.
But she could scarcely have seemed more at ease yesterday, wise-cracking about her love of grass and her readiness for Wimbledon, where a third dose of glory in 2017 would produce the neatest of symmetries with her wins in 2011 and 2014.
Barty, who had taken a break from tennis to test herself batting in Australia’s Big Bash League, stretched Kvitova with her tricky blend of dice and slice before folding in the final set.
Her overriding sentiment, though, was of admiration for her conqueror. “It’s amazing to have her back on court,” the 21-year-old said. “She is an inspiration.”
‘It took much more energy, but I am very happy – I didn’t expect this. It’s a kind of fairy tale’