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Wimbledon • Petra Kvitová Loss And A Look Back At Monica Seles

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic returns to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in their first round match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 03 July 2018. EPA-EFE/NIC BOTHMA

 

 

By Nancy Gill Mc Shea

 

A huge round of applause for two brave tennis veterans – Petra Kvitova, a 2011, 2014 Wimbledon singles champ, and Monica Seles, a 1992 Wimbledon finalist who won 9 major singles titles. Both young women survived brutal attacks, dealt with post-traumatic stress, apparently recovered and rejoined the WTA pro tour. I watched Kvitova show great tenacity yesterday as she bowed to Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 4-6, 6-4, 0-6, in Wimbledon’s first round after suffering the effects of a severe knife injury to her dominant left hand at her home in December of 2016. And I can still see the image of Seles sustaining a similar career threatening injury in April of 1993. I was writing on a tennis deadline while watching a pro tournament in Germany, and I was shocked as I saw Seles survive a piercing back stabbing knife attack during a changeover. Seles returned to the tour two years later and I zoned in on her great courage, watched her smiling in the 1996 U.S. Open awards ceremony next to Steffi Graf in the midst of a major thunder and lightning storm after she surrendered to Graf, 5-7, 4-6, in the final.

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