Petra Kvitova 'on track' for Wimbledon after December knife attack

Two-time Wimbledon female singles champion Petra Kvitova is "on track" to play at SW19 this summer and will make a late call on her potential participation at the forthcoming French Open, her publicity manager has confirmed.

Kvitova last played in November 2016, when she lost to France's Caroline Garcia in the final of the Fed Cup. She was shockingly stabbed by an intruder posing as an electricity-maintenance worker during an attempted robbery at her home in the Czech city of Prostejov a month later and required lengthy surgery to correct nerve and tendon damage to her left playing hand.

Kvitova was initially expected to miss around six months of action and earlier in May she posted an Instagram photo of herself returning to the practice courts in Monaco.

While it is yet to be decided if the 27-year-old will make her competitive comeback in Paris next week, she appears to be on course to feature at the All England Club in July.

"She is on track for Wimbledon," Katie Spellman told Reuters. "She will make a last minute decision this week about Roland Garros."

Kvitova, who won an Olympic bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro last year thanks to her victory over American Madison Keys, was ranked at 11th in the world by the WTA at the time of the attack. She has since dropped to 16th, below Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Keys, Kristina Mladenovic and Elena Vesnina.

Kvitova's name is on the entry list for the French Open, with Wimbledon organisers set to announce theirs on Wednesday. In a statement also given to Reuters, the All England Lawn and Tennis Club (AELTC) said they were "always pleased to welcome former champions back to Wimbledon" and would be "delighted if Petra Kvitova is able to compete in The Championships this year".

A Wimbledon winner in both 2011 and 2014, Kvitova reached the third round in 2015 before losing in the second round to Ekaterina Makarova last year. Her best performance at Roland Garros came in 2012, when she lost in the semi-finals to Maria Sharapova.