Tennis champ Kvitova ‘badly injured’ in knife-attack

PRAGUE, Czech Republic: Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was injured after an attack by a knife-wielding burglar at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov, her spokesman said on Tuesday.

“In my attempt to defend myself, I was badly injured on my left hand. I am shaken, but fortunate to be alive,” Kvitova, the world number 11, said on her Twitter account @Petra_Kvitova.“Petra Kvitova was attacked in her flat this morning, it was a random crime, nobody was going to attack or rob her as Petra Kvitova,” spokesman Karel Tejkal told AFP.

“She was injured with a knife during the attempted burglary. Her life is not in danger,” Tejkal added.The Dnes daily said the 26-year-old had cuts on her left hand, in which she holds the racket, after fighting the burglar.

“What happened to me was not pleasant at all but it’s over now,” Kvitova said on Facebook.“I trust the doctors and I believe it will all end well. Don’t worry about me,” she added.Radka Milosevska, spokeswoman for the Prostejov hospital, told AFP Kvitova had been treated with knife cuts and released.

Local police spokesman Frantisek Korinek said the attack had occurred before 0730 GMT on Tuesday near the town centre and that the burglar was still at large.The police have the burglar’s description, he told AFP but declined to confirm media reports that Kvitova had let the burglar in as he pretended to be a technician checking boilers.