(ATR) Rio 2016 Olympic tennis bronze medalist Petra Kvitova said she is "fortunate to be alive" after suffering an attack by a burglar at her home in the Czech Republic on Tuesday morning.
Czech police were hunting for the assailant, who conned his way into Kvitova’s home in the eastern town of Prostejov by posing as an electrical maintenance worker before attempting to rob her at knife-point.
The assault happened before 8:30 a.m. when Kvitova, who was eating breakfast, answered the doorbell to a man who claimed he had come to read the meter. After being allowed into the flat, he threatened her with the knife, a police spokesman said.
The 26-year-old Czech tennis star fought back, but suffered cuts to all five fingers of her playing hand, her left, sustaining damage to the tendons, according to the local Prostojovsky Vecernik newspaper.
Kvitova’s publicist Karel Tejkal said she appeared to have been the victim of a "random criminal act" and was not specifically targeted. "It was not that they would go intentionally to rob Petra," Tejkal said. "Her injuries are not life-threatening."
Czech NOC president Jiri Kejval tells Around the Rings that the incident is "disturbing" and the Czech Team is offering support to her.
"I don’t recall anything like this happening in the Czech Republic – it’s incredible," Kejval said. "It’s a shock for everybody.
"It seems she may have a serious injury from this conflict," he said. "It’s very painful happening here before Christmas. It’s horrible.
"We have the Athletes Commission to reach out to her and we’ll try to be helpful," Kejval said. "We’ll see what Petra’s situation is. We pray for her."
Kvitova, the world’s number 11 ranked tennis player, posted on her Twitter account: "Thank you for all your messages. As you may have already heard, today I was attacked in my apartment by an individual with a knife."
Her Tweets continued: "In my attempt to defend myself, I was badly injured on my left hand. I am shaken, but fortunate to be alive. 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. Thank you all again for your love and support."
Kvitova, who also represented the Czech Republic at the London 2012 Games, was taken to a hospital in Brno, the country’s second largest city, around 40 miles from her home, where she is expected to undergo surgery on Tuesday evening according to her spokesman.
The attacker, described as about five-foot-11 and aged about 35, stole 5,000 Czech koruna ($192) before fleeing and is believed to be still at large.
Written by Brian Pinelli in Prague.
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