‘Blood was everywhere’: Tennis star Petra Kvitova recalls terrifying knife attack in court testimony
Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova has revealed horrifying details of the life-threatening knife attack she survived in December 2016, saying that she managed to pull the blade away from her neck, splattering blood everywhere.
Testifying at a Brno court on Tuesday, the two-time Wimbledon champion described how she was assaulted at her home three years ago. She explained how the alleged attacker Radim Zondra, 33, entered the house pretending to be a boiler inspector before holding a knife to her throat from behind.
The tennis player managed to grab the sharp blade of the knife with her hands, forcing it away from the neck. However, the blade cut her left hand causing a serious injury to Kvitova which required a surgery and six-months of rehabilitation.
“He asked me to turn on the hot water tap and at that moment I had a knife against my neck. I grabbed it with both hands. I held the blade with my left hand. I snatched it away, I fell on the floor and there was blood everywhere,” Kvitova said.
“All the fingers on my left hand had been cut, and the nerves in my thumb and index finger severed. Even today, the mobility is not 100 percent. There is no sensitivity in the tips (of my thumb and index finger),” she said, adding that she still remembers the eyes of the home intruder.
Kvitova gave testimony from a separate room to avoid direct contact with the suspect who faces up to 12 years in jail if found guilty.
In January, Kvitova reached the final of the Australian Open where she was beaten by Japan’s Naomi Osaka. Before the game, the Czech said that the terrifying attack made her doubt whether she could ever return to playing tennis.
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