Petra Kvitova and the art of not playing victim

Source: Essentially Sports

Petra Kvitova, the blonde and blue-eyed tennis star from the Czech Republic, has reached the semifinals of the French Open in Paris. The last time the 30-year-old was at this stage in the tournament was in 2012. Back then, her mind and body were not scarred from battling a knife-wielding burglar at her home.

In December 2016, Kvitova was attacked at her apartment in Prostejov, Czech Republic, by a man posing as a technician checking the boiler. A strong six-footer, Kvitova fought him off by grabbing his knife with the same left hand that won her two Wimbledon titles.

She also kept her presence of mind. Despite blood “everywhere” and her life at stake, she told the man, a cold-eyed 30-something named Radim Zondra, that she needed to go to the hospital and asked him if he wanted money.

“How much do you have?” Zondra, a career criminal, asked a self-made champion.
“10,000 crowns,” she said. (Rs 32,000 approx).

He took the money and left. Shaken but calm, Kvitova then dialled the police and the ambulance.
Kvitova’s left hand suffered gory and deep injuries. All the five fingers were cut. The top of her index finger was bent out of shape. She had also damaged nerves and tendons. Mentally, she was scarred. She immediately underwent surgery, which lasted almost four hours.
Later, Kvitova recounted the horror in her court testimony.

"He (the attacker) asked me to turn on the hot water tap and at that moment I had a knife against my neck,” she said. “I grabbed it with both hands and held the blade with my left hand. I snatched it away, I fell on the floor and there was blood everywhere.”

Even as her life and health were turned upside down, Kvitova was hopeful about her tennis career. In fact, the possibility, however slim, of returning to the courts kept her going.

One of the first things she asked her surgeon, Dr Radek Kebrle, after being operated was, “Doctor, will I go to Wimbledon?”

Dr Kebrle understood her feelings, but gave her his honest opinion. He felt there was just a 10 per cent chance she would play at the top level again. He left the room and that was one of the few times Kvitova broke down. At age 26, there was a possibility that her career might be over.

But her positivity engines revved up again. Ten percent was better than zero, wasn’t it?

Dr Kebrle and a French hand specialist named Dominique Thomas worked on Kvitova in the following weeks, using various techniques to rebuild her hand, including electro-stimulation therapy.

On the mental side, she sometimes struggled with visions of the attack. And anxiety would ripple within her if she was by herself, even though she changed her residence. According to an article on espn.com, Kvitova’s therapist advised her to focus on small everyday triumphs and the memories and images of her beloved nieces and nephew.

Three months passed, and Kvitova was able to at last hold a racquet, fingers hesitantly wrapping around the grip. There are over 30 muscles in the hand, according to some estimates. Till so far they were in perfect sync with the racquet grip for Kvitova. Now, they were like a rusty dance troupe that had to relearn its steps to dance on the Broadway of tennis again.

In April 2017, four months after the robbery, and against all calculations, Kvitova returned to the court. In June, she entered the French Open. Again, heads shook in disbelief across the Czech Republic. And though she lost in the second round, she had won a much bigger battle. Kvitova is one of the distinctive figures in women’s sport. On court, she is businesslike, her hair tied up and unfussy. Off court, she can be striking and glamourous. And now she was back in the mix.

Three years on, Kvitova is two matches away from winning the French Open. "It's my lucky place," she said after her quarterfinal.

Kvitova does not have anything to prove as she has already won Wimbledon twice. If she does win in Paris, however, it would be her first major since her comeback. In all this time, there are many statements she has made. But one line stands out. Soon after the attack, Kvitova said, “While what happened to me was very scary, I do not see myself as a victim, I do not feel sorry for myself and I will not look backwards.”