Kvitova hails ‘crazy’ year following knife attack

PARIS: Seventeen months after being attacked in her home by a knife-wielding intruder, Petra Kvitova has come to accept that she may always have that “weird feeling” whenever she is out alone and that her left playing hand will never fully recover.

But rather than dwelling on the episode, which her surgeon feared would end her career after she was left with damaged tendons and nerves in her fingers and thumb, the 28-year-old Czech has adopted a positive attitude and has already won four trophies in 2018.

That tally, which includes back-to-back claycourt titles in Prague and Madrid in the run-up to the French Open, is more than any other woman on the WTA Tour this season and has also lifted her to eighth in the world - her highest ranking since May 2016.

Given it was only a year ago that she made her comeback from the December 2016 attack, Kvitova is having to pinch herself to believe how well things have gone.“It’s crazy! It’s happening but I still find it unbelievable. It’s totally unexpected for me so far,” Kvitova told Reuters in an interview.

“I’m feeling great and I am enjoying playing every moment because I couldn’t imagine myself playing as well as I am now. That’s important for me.”“I really didn’t know how the hand would react to playing tennis and even if I could hold the racket,” said Kvitova.“I was just working hard, being patient and being positive about it.”