Two-time Wimbledon tennis champion Petra Kvitova has undergone a near four-hour operation on “severe” hand injuries sustained after she was attacked by a knife-wielding robber in her apartment in the Czech Republic Tuesday.
“Doctors repaired damage to tendons in all five digits of the left hand as well as two nerves,” the tennis player’s PR manager Katie Spellman told CNN in an email.
The three-hour, 45-minute operation went “very well” considering “the extent of the damage,” Spellman added.
She also revealed that former world No. 2 Kvitova must wear a cast for six to eight weeks and won’t be able to put any weight on the hand for three months.
The 26-year-old was already set to miss January’s Hopman Cup because of a stress fracture in her foot.
Being a left-handed player, it is as yet unclear how the injury and subsequent surgery could impact her game or rehabilitation period beyond the time she will wear the protective cast.
Speaking Tuesday, however, Kvitova revealed she was lucky to have survived the incident, let alone be considering when she will play next.
“I am shaken, but fortunate to be alive,” she said via a post on her Facebook page. “The injury is severe and I will need to see specialists, but if you know anything about me I am strong and I will fight this.”
Czech police told CNN that the attack took place just before 8.30 a.m. CET in Kvitova’s apartment near the center of Prostejov, a small city about 160 miles east of Prague where a number of Czech tennis pros live and train during the offseason.
“The attacker was a man aged around 35 years, his identity is unknown and he is on the run. Police are working to determine what happened,” the police spokesperson said.
Karel Tejkal, spokesman for the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon winner, told the state-run Czech Radio that “it looks like it was a random act and not a planned action.”
A number of tennis pros expressed their shock at the incident on social media and passed on their best wishes to Olympic bronze medalist Kvitova, who ended the year ranked 11th.
“So upset hearing the news about @Petra_Kvitova. Hands down one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. All my thoughts with her,” American world No. 8 Madison Keys said on Twitter.
Monica Puig, Olympic gold medal winner in Rio de Janeiro in August, tweeted: “Thinking of you @Petra_Kvitova .. stay strong! We are all with you.”
Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic said: “My thoughts and prayers are with Petra! She’s a great fighter and I am positive she will be ok! @Petra_Kvitova thinking of you!”