Petra Kvitova: From Knife Attack Victim to Australian Open Semi-Finalist

As the tears began to roll down the cheeks of Petra Kvitova on Rod Laver Court, it was hard not to feel touched by her show of emotion.

The Czech paused to compose herself as she began to well up in front of Jim Courier conducting the interview at the Rod Laver Arena, surely recalling the mental trauma and physical scars of the past two years.

Kvitova choked back the tears and said: “I didn’t really imagine to be back in this great stadium, it’s great.”

She later told reporters: “Yeah, it just took me a bit to the tears, but it was happy tears, for sure.”

A semi-final with the unseeded American Danielle Collins is what stands in her way of a Grand Slam final this Saturday. But it has been a long road back to this point.

December 20, 2016 is a night that the 28-year-old will never erase from her mind. On that night, she was stabbed during an armed robbery. The incident, cruelly sidelined her from the sport.

Twenty-five months ago, Kvitova’s life was turned upside down by the harrowing incident that left the two-times Wimbledon champion with lasting nerve damage and an inability to feel two of her fingers.

The tennis star was fortunate to escape with her life but was transported to a hospital 40 miles away in Brno. Since then, Kvitova had been planning a return to the top of her sport.

The eighth seed was ruthless on Tuesday as she crushed Ashleigh Barty with an emphatic 6-1, 6-4. She blasted her way through the opening set in a devastating 27 minutes, pounding 12 winners.

She had her service game broken on three occasions during the opening two rounds, but she has since gone 30 games holding serve, while against Barty she produced 25 winners compared to her opponent’s eight.

She told Eurosport on Tuesday after blocking out a partisan home crowd: “It’s tough to describe, it’s such an incredible achievement after everything I’ve been through. But the tournament isn’t over. I love this sport, and I love the game. It’s an up and down sport, but I’ve always found a way to enjoy what I’m doing.”