Petra Kvitova, finalist at this year’s Australian Open, testified on Tuesday in the Czech Republic at the trial of the man who allegedly attacked her with a knife in her home.
The two-time Grand Slam champion’s testimony was requested by the lawyer of the suspect 33-year-old Radim Zondra, who attacked Kvitova in December 2016 in her home in Prostejov.
After the attack, Kvitova had to undergo surgery on her playing left hand that was injured in the attack and it took her more than five months to recover. She returned to tennis in 2017 and has since then climbed her way to world No 2 with the runner-up finish in Melbourne.
She revealed details of the attack in her testimony which was through a live video feed from a separate room and recorded by Czech public television.
The two-time Wimbledon champion said that the suspect rang the bell and she opened the door expecting a possible doping control. The suspect claimed he came to inspect her boiler, the Associated Press reported.
But moments later she felt he was holding a knife to her throat from behind when they checking the hot water in the bathroom. In her defence, Kvitova grabbed the knife with both hands and injured herself, sustaining damage to the tendons in her hand, along with injuries to all five fingers and two nerves.
“I was screaming, of course, there was blood all over the place,” she said. The suspect left only after Kvitova offered money and he took 10,000 Czech crowns (approx. Rs 31000).
Zondra, currently serving prison term for a different crime, pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.