Petra Kvitova extended her unbeaten run to 14 matches. (Source: Reuters)
Petra Kvitova survived a marathon second-round match against Dulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan to emerge with a 6-7(4) 7-6(3) 6-4 at the BNP Paribas Open in California on Friday.
After capturing her 21st and 22nd career titles in St. Petersburg and Doha, ninth seed Kvitova was not at her best in Indian Wells, mixing 66 winners with 78 unforced errors.
The twice Wimbledon champion finally triumphed in three hours and 17 minutes as a frustrated Putintseva smashed her racket on the court after coming so close to an upset.
“It’s kind of tough to explain, because it was really up-and-down,” Kvitova told reporters after her 14th straight victory, matching the longest steak of her career.
“My mental side wasn’t really tough, I have to say. It was always, like, a good point and I was up mentally, and then it was a bad point, and I was down. That was almost all match.
“I couldn’t show the game which I played the last few weeks.”
Romanian top seed Simona Halep used a superior serve to beat Czech Kristyna Pliskova 6-4 6-4 but six other seeds were beaten in daytime action.
Johanna Konta (11), Ashleigh Barty (16), Svetlana Kuznetsova (19), Elise Mertens (22), Barbora Strycova (25) and Agnieszka Radwanska (31) were all eliminated.
Radwanska was beaten by Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who continued her barnstorming form with a 6-3 6-2 victory two days after ousting former world number one Maria Sharapova.
Osaka dominated on first serve, and also broke four times. The 20-year-old might get a chance to beat another big name, potentially facing third seed Garbiñe Muguruza in the third round.
Briton Konta fell to Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova 7-6(5) 6-4, while Australian Barty was beaten 6-4 6-2 by Maria Sakkari of Greece.
Belgian Mertens fell to China’s Wang Qiang 4-6 6-3 6-3.
Russian Kuznetsova, last year’s runner-up, was ousted 6-4 6-3 by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Czech Strycova also went out in straight sets, 7-5 6-4, to Petra Martic of Croatia.
For all the latest Sports News, download Indian Express App
