Petra Kvitova continued her recent form into the third round of the China Open in Beijing, China. The Czech sent the defending champion, Garbiñe Muguruza, packing after a comprehensive 6-1, 6-4 win in an hour and 13 minutes.
Kvitova cruises through to one-set advantage
To kick off the last match of the night session on Wednesday, Kvitova and Muguruza stepped into the National Tennis Stadium for their third overall meeting. The pair began the match on serve throughout the first three games of the third round before a Muguruza forehand slid wide to give the first break to the Czech. The Kvitova serve further crept her lead, which left the 2016 Roland Garros champion three games behind. The speed of Kvitova was displayed in the opening set en route to her 4-1 lead.
A second break later, last week’s Wuhan Open winner found herself with a commanding lead as she was ahead five games to one. Kvitova did not stop there with her dominant tennis. She closed out a one-sided first set with, yet another, commanding hold. The two-time Wimbledon champion placed a forehand brilliantly cross court to end the set in style after just 31 minutes of play.
Muguruza eyes comeback, but Kvitova serves too strong
The first six games of the second set saw neither player go ahead by a break of serve. The lefty lost just one point on serve throughout her three service games, whereas the Spaniard was forced to hold off two break-point opportunities for her Czech counterpart. However, Kvitova eyed a crucial break and eventually clinched it thanks to a Muguruza double fault. The double fault was costly as the defending champion fell behind a set and a break while lacking her best tennis.
The forehand of the 14th seed kept firing to the deep corners of the court, leaving the second seed answerless to her forceful game. A hold to 15 put the Olympic bronze medalist a game away from a quarterfinal berth in Beijing as she held a 6-1, 5-3 lead. Muguruza then served to stay in the match and did so rather successfully with a hold to 30. The pressure shifted to Kvitova for the first time in the match. Her tennis was too much for the top-ranked Spaniard to handle as she held to close out an impressive straight-set win over the always dangerous world number four.
Czech to play rematch of bronze-medal match in quarterfinals
Two months ago, Kvitova and Madison Keys battled for the bronze medal in Rio. The 14th seed takes on the 8th seed on Friday for a spot in the last four at the China Open. The hard-hitting encounter is an even more important matchup considering both players are looking to earn a bid into the WTA Finals in Singapore later this month.
