Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova says a year on from being the victim of a horrific knife attack she can look to the future positively having successfully returned to the WTA circuit.


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The 27-year-old two-time Wimbledon champion defied expectations in returning to competition despite suffering serious wounds to her playing left hand as she fought off a knife-wielding intruder at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov in December 2016.


However, within months she had not only made a comeback but also won a title - the pre-Wimbledon tune-up event in Birmingham - and rounded off the Grand Slams with a quarter-final appearance in the US Open.


"Playing on the grass at Wimbledon (where she reached the second round) and getting a good result in the US Open was very important for me mentally, and for my confidence," Kvitova told The Guardian newspaper.


"This year has been a rollercoaster. The beginning wasn`t very nice, so I`m really glad that it`s over. Now I can look at everything positively again."


Kvitova - who reached a career high ranking of second in the world in December 2011 - says she shrugged aside fears she would never play again.


"I did hear the rumours that I would never ever play again but I thought: `I will show them`," said Kvitova, who has been playing since she was four.


"I was like: `Why are they saying this?` It was very painful for me, it felt like they didn`t believe me.


"The week after surgery I asked my doctor: `Do you think I could play in Wimbledon this year?` He didn`t answer for a while and then he said: `We are going to work on it and blah, blah, blah.` I understood then that it wasn`t going to be easy."


Kvitova, who has 20 titles to her credit, admits her hand is still not what it was.


"It will probably take more than a year to get full movement back, I`m not sure," said Kvitova, who is presently ranked 29 in the world.


"For tennis and for life, it`s good."


"I am happy that (throughout the recovery) I was always looking forward to the better tomorrows."


Kvitova, who was told last month police had shelved the investigation as they had hit a dead end in identifying her assailant, says she has grown to love her `new hand`.


"I have started to live with my new hand," said Kvitova, who will kick off 2018 in the WTA tournament in Brisbane, Australia.


"I`ve started to try to like it, to love it and that`s how I am going to take it. It`s my hand and I am just happy that I have all of my fingers."