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'I Saw the Blood, I Started Crying': Tennis Star Kvitova Recalls Stabbing Attack

© AFP 2023Petra Kvitova (pictured) has made a full recovery after the attack in 2016
Petra Kvitova (pictured) has made a full recovery after the attack in 2016 - Sputnik International
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Petra Kvitova returned to professional tennis in May 2017 - six months after being stabbed - and crowned her comeback when she reached the final of the 2019 Australian Open last month.

Radim Zondra, 33, faces 12 years in prison if convicted of stabbing the Czech player at her home in Prostejov in December 2016.

His work colleagues have told the court he was at work at the time of the incident.

On Wednesday, 6 February, the two-times Wimbledon champion told a court in the city of Brno by how she grabbed Zondra's knife and forced it way from her neck during the attack.

Speaking through a videolink, she said there was "blood everywhere" but she felt no pain when the 10-inch blade cut her left hand.

Kvitova, who is left-handed, only later realised she suffered damaged tendons in her hand.

She said the man rang her doorbell at 8.30am and she immediately opened it because she was expecting a visit from the Women's Tennis Association to administer a routine doping test.

Attacker Used Boiler Ruse

Kvitova said the man said he had come to inspect her boiler.

"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," she said.

Kvitova said he kicked her mobile phone away as they struggled.

She said she offered him money to go away.

"He asked how much I had. I said ten thousand crowns ($440) and he said 'OK'. I gave him the money, he left and I called the ambulance and then the police," she added.

'I Don't Have 100 Percent Mobility'

"When I saw the blood, I started crying," 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," she said.

She said she identified him from photos provided by the police.

"I knew it was him the moment I saw him. I remembered his eyes mainly," she said.

The trial continues.

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