KVITOVA THROUGH

Petra Kvitova has defeated Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Kvitova won the match in the straight sets by 6-2, 7-6(5). With this win, Kvitova has cruised into final 16.

It took Kvitova one and half hours to win this match.

Kvitova’s recent form has been pretty good. She was the winner of the recently played Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and she is continuing her good form in this tournament as well. She has played some fantastic tennis so far in this competition.

After winning the match, Kvitova said, “The start was fantastic for me. I didn’t commit too many unforced errors and had no problem in winning the first set. But, in the second set, she changed her approach and started playing with a bit more aggression. She was creating a lot of problems for me, but, at that time, it was important not to get frustrated and just hang in there. That’s what I did.”

“The surface was very slow and this type of surface doesn’t suit to my game. However, I am working hard to improve my game on slower surfaces.”

In the opening set, Kvitova got a couple of early breakthroughs which gave her a lead of 5-1. The Ukrainian youngster didn’t manage to make up for this early damage done by Kvitova and eventually, lost the set by 2-6.

In the second set, both the players got two breakthroughs each in the first four games and the scorecard was showing 2-2 when the 4^th game finished.

The next 8 games went with the serve due to which the scores got tied at 6-6 and the set went into the tie breaker.

In the tie breaker, the score was 5-5 at one stage and the set could have gone either way. A mini break for Kvitova right at the end ensured that the match would not go into the third set.

In the next match, Kvitova will face her countrywoman Klara Zakopalova.