FILE PHOTO: Tennis – Australian Open – Women’s Singles Final – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, January 26, 2019. Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova attends a news conference after losing her match against Japan’s Naomi Osaka. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo
The man who stabbed two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at her home in the Czech Republic in 2016 was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison.
Radim Zondra, 33, was convicted of causing serious bodily harm by a regional court in Brno. Prosecutors had sought a 12-year sentence for Zondra, who pleaded not guilty.
Kvitova’s spokesman, Karel Tejkal, said she respected the court’s ruling. “She’s satisfied with the verdict because she identified the convicted person as the attacker,” Tejkal said.
The left-handed Kvitova suffered slashing injuries to her left hand and fingers in the December 2016 home invasion at her apartment in Prostejov. She needed more than five months to recover.
Kvitova, 29, reached the final of the Australian Open in January, her first Grand Slam final since winning Wimbledon for the second time in 2014.
Kvitova is currently ranked No. 2 in the world, a career high. She faces Australian Ashleigh Barty in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open on Tuesday night. If she wins the tournament, she would claim the No. 1 spot from Japan’s Naomi Osaka.
—Field Level Media