Kvitova out indefinitely after burglar attack

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will need at least three months of rest after surgery to her left hand cut by a knife-wielding burglar on Tuesday, her spokesman said.

Kvitova suffered an injury on all five fingers and two nerves in her left hand, her racket hand, after fighting with the burglar at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov.

Doctors "stitched the injured finger tendons" during the surgery that took three hours and 45 minutes, Kvitova's spokesman Karel Tejkal told AFP.


"The hand will now be bandaged for two days, then put in a splint for 6-8 weeks.

"She can't burden the tendons for at least three months.

"The injury is serious, but the surgeon says Petra is young and healthy and there is no reason why she can't resume tennis."

Earlier on Tuesday, Tejkal said the burglary was a random crime as "nobody was going to attack or rob her as Petra Kvitova".

The 26-year-old world number 11 said on Facebook she was shaken but "fortunate" to be alive.

"I was attacked in my apartment by an individual with a knife," said Kvitova, adding she tried to defend herself.

"I trust the doctors and I believe it will all end well. Don't worry about me."

Local police spokesman Frantisek Korinek said the attack had occurred before 0730 GMT on Tuesday near the Prostejov town centre and that the burglar was still at large.

- Lacklustre year -

Meanwhile, support poured in from fellow tennis stars.

"So upset hearing the news about @Petra_Kvitova. Hands down one of the nicest people I've ever met. All my thoughts with her," tweeted world number eight Madison Keys.

"Just finding out about @Petra_Kvitova and the awful stabbing and injury to her hand - pulling for you Petra," added Czech-born former great Martina Navratilova.

And Oracene Price, the mother of Serena and Venus Williams, tweeted: "@Petra_Kvitova I'm very sorry to hear what happen to you. I'm praying for your speedy recovery. Blessing to you and your family."

The burglary adds a sombre ending to a rather lacklustre year for Kvitova, who slid from sixth in the world in January to 16th in August.

She sacked two coaches before winning the Wuhan Open in China in October after a 13-month title drought.

She added a victory at Zhuhai, China in November and was on the Czech Republic team that won the Fed Cup later that month, beating France for their fifth title in six years.

On December 1, Kvitova hired a new coach, Czech Jiri Vanek, who had led her Fed Cup teammate Karolina Pliskova to this year's US Open final.

Bronze medallist from the Rio Olympics and Wimbledon champion in 2011 and 2014, Kvitova is also recovering from a stress fracture to her foot.

Just hours before the attack, she said the injury had forced her out of the mixed doubles Hopman Cup starting on January 1, where she was due to play alongside her former boyfriend Adam Pavlasek.

She said she hoped to start next year at Sydney on January 8 to warm up for the Australian Open -- a plan that she will have to drop following doctors' orders.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Federer and Kvitova feast on Wimbledon starters

LONDON - When Roger Federer's game flows at Wimbledon and his opponent knows his place you half expect him to slide into a deckchair at changeovers, pour cream on to some strawberries and tuck in.

It was like that on Centre Court on Tuesday as the King of Cool began his quest for an eighth title at the All England Club with a nonchalant dismantling of Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur.

With the mercury soaring into the high 80s Fahrenheit as London prepares for a heatwave, spectators were spared the full glare of the mid-afternoon sun thanks to the welcome shade offered by the partly-extended roof.

For 88th-ranked Dzumhur there was no escape from the dazzling shot-making of the Swiss maestro who won 6-1 6-3 6-3.

It was a similar story earlier as reigning women's champion Petra Kvitova scorched the grass with some searing serves in a 35-minute demolition of Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens.

She dropped only one point on serve in a commanding first-round show of force that augurs well for her chances of repeating her title charge of 12 months ago when she blew Eugenie Bouchard away in a one-sided final.

German 10th seed Angelique Kerber also caught fire, thrashing compatriot Carina Witthoeft 6-0 6-0 to record the third so-called 'double bagel' in the women's singles so far, the most since 1996.

It was not all one-way traffic for fancied players though.

Third seed Simona Halep checked out 5-7 6-4 6-3 in round one against 106th-ranked Slovakian Jana Cepelova to become the highest-profile casualty so far.

Last year's runner-up Bouchard's fall from grace continued as she was bundled out by China's Duan Yingying.

TRICKY MOMENTS

By contrast, all of the top 16 men's seeds are still alive.

Britain's number three seed Andy Murray had some tricky moments before overcoming Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4 -- dropping serve three times in the second set.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who 2013 champion Murray could play in the last 16, needed five sets to scramble past Luxembourg leftie Gilles Muller.

With umbrellas popping up around the grounds, for shade not falling raindrops, London's hottest day of the year so far seemed to agree with Spain's twice former champion Rafa Nadal.

Lurking in the draw as 10th seed after a poor year, the 29-year-old bludgeoned Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 6-4 6-2 6-4.

World number two Federer, starting his 63rd consecutive grand slam, which he firmly believes can deliver a long-awaited 18th title, was given carte blanche to go through his exquisite repertoire against the willing Dzumhur -- a player whose first tennis shots were forged in bomb-ravaged Sarajevo.

The 23-year-old Dzumhur pushed Federer harder at the French Open this year, but looked like he had turned up uninvited to a Federer garden party on the world's most famous lawn at times.

He at least finally made Federer sweat, but not much as the free-swinging Swiss fired off graceful winners and raced through service games in the blink of an eye.

"I'm sure in some crazy way he's also enjoying himself, he can look back and say I played on Centre," Federer, who has earned $90 million in prize money compared to the $500,000 banked by his opponent, told reporters.

NADAL IMPROVING

Nadal supporters insist that but for injuries he would already have matched Federer's grand slam haul rather than be three short, though they would struggle to argue that their man makes winning look as easy as his great rival.

But there were hints on Tuesday against Bellucci that Nadal is returning to the kind of form that saw him beat Federer in an epic 2008 final and then regain the title in 2010.

"For me the conditions were great. It's difficult to think about a better day to play tennis here in Wimbledon," said the Spaniard.

He was not getting carried away though, especially with several early blow-outs at Wimbledon fresh in the memory.

"Second round, that's all," said Nadal, who next plays Germany's dreadlocked Dustin Brown who once beat him on grass.

"I am a little bit more confident now than I was a few months ago. Obviously victories help."

(Editing by Ken Ferris)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com