Kvitova: Tennis star injured in robbery in her apartment News

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Kvitova: Tennis star injured in robbery in her apartment

By Daily Sports on December 21, 2016

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova says she is "shaken, but fortunate to be alive" after being severely injured by a knife-wielding robber in her apartment Tuesday.

The Czech tennis star suffered damage to the tendons and nerves of her left, playing hand and underwent nearly four hours of surgery.

"I was attacked in my apartment by an individual with a knife. In my attempt to defend myself, I was badly injured on my left hand," she said on her Facebook page before her lengthy operation.

"I am shaken, but fortunate to be alive. The injury is severe and I will need to see specialists, but if you know anything about me I am strong and I will fight this."

Czech police told CNN that the attack took place just before 8.30 a.m. CET in Kvitova's apartment near the center of Prostejov, a small city about 160 miles east of Prague where a number of Czech tennis pros live and train during the offseason.

"The attacker was a man aged around 35 years, his identity is unknown and he is on the run. Police are working to determine what happened," the police spokesperson said.

Karel Tejkal, the spokesman for the former world No. 2, told the state-run Czech Radio that "it looks like it was a random act and not a planned action."

Injured hand

The injuries were severe enough that Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, was tended to by an emergency ambulance.

"We received a call this morning about an injured 26-year-old woman who suffered injuries to her hand," a medical emergency spokesman in Prostejov said.

Later, Kvitova's three hour, 45-minute operation went "very well" considering "the extent of the damage," said her PR manager Katie Spellman.

"Doctors repaired damage to tendons in all five digits of the left hand as well as two nerves," Spellman said in an email to CNN.

Kvitova, added Spellman, must wear a cast for six to eight weeks and won't be able to put any weight on the hand for three months. (CNN)

•Photo show Petra Kvitova

Source Daily Sports

Posted December 21, 2016