Petra Kvitova determined to return to competitive tennis
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is determined to return to competitive tennis after undergoing surgery for a hand injury suffered last week from a knife attack by an intruder at her home in the Czech Republic.
“I have no choice but to look ahead, and not back, to see how everything will develop,” the world No 11 told her first news conference after her surgery.
“It does not really matter to me how long it will take (to play again), whether it is three months, six months, a year or however long. But certainly I want to return one day and I will do everything possible to do so.”
The 26-year-old Kvitova said she had been able to move her fingers in a session with her doctors on Thursday, and called it her “greatest Christmas present.”
Police are still searching for her attacker. The attack has been described as a random act with Kvitova not specifically targeted.
Kvitova achieved a career-high No 2 ranking in the world in 2011 after winning her maiden Wimbledon title. Her second Wimbledon crown came in 2014. She has won 19 singles titles in her career, including two this year.
Last week, Radek Kebrle, Kvitova’s surgeon, told the BBC that it would take at least three months for the player to be able to grip a racquet again.
"It`s unclear if or when Kvitova will be back on the court, and the start of 2017 won`t be the same without her unique power and competitive spirit," the WTA said on its website.