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Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was released from the hospital Friday, three days after being injured in a knife attack at her home in the Czech Republic. Kvitova, 26, underwent nearly four hours of surgery on her left hand and forearm earlier this week and is expected to miss at least six months of tennis competition.
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Kvitova is aiming at beating that timetable and was upbeat about her future while reading a statement at a press briefing.
"I don't care about how much time it takes, three months, six months or a year," Kvitova said. "But that's for sure I want to return one day and I'll do all I can to make that happen. I had no doubt about my return to the tennis circuit for a second."
The left-handed Kvitova was attacked in her home by an intruder who posed as a gas inspector. She suffered multiple lacerations while fighting off the attacker, and was left with major nerve damage in the arm as well as injuries to multiple tendons and all five fingers.
She was wearing a big bandage covering the left hand and forearm as she spoke.
"While what has happened to me was very scary, I do not see myself as a victim," Kvitova said. "I do not feel sorry for myself, and I will not look backwards."
The severe injuries will not allow Kvitova to bear weight with her left hand for at least three months.
On Thursday morning, Kvitova was encouraged during a session with doctors.
"I was able to move the fingers on my left hand," said Kvitova, "which I think ... was the greatest Christmas present I could have wished for."
Kvitova didn't field questions from the media. Her attacker remains at large.
Kvitova finished the 2016 campaign ranked No. 11 in the WTA rankings.
Kvitova isn't the first women's tennis player to be a victim of a knife attack. In 1993, Monica Seles was stabbed in the back by a crazed man during a match in Hamburg, Germany.
Seles missed the next 27 months before returning to the circuit.
