NEW YORK (US) – Despite struggling with unforced errors, Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova still had enough weapons in her arsenal to defeat Jessica Pegula of the US 6-4 6-3 on Friday and make her way into the fourth round of the US Open.
A two-times Wimbledon champion, Kvitova had 28 unforced errors and five double faults. But in a bid to trounce baseline battler Pegula, she moved up a gear.
In each set the sixth seed broke the world number 63 twice and sealed victory when Pegula sent a return wide.
“I’m definitely happy that I’m through the first week. Few weeks ago I didn’t have idea that really the US Open will take place. For me (it) was a miracle that it’s really happening.
“I know that if I didn’t come maybe one day I (was) going to regret that I didn’t come.”
Early in the game, Pegula, who reached the last eight of the Western & Southern Open, tackled Kvitova shot for shot from the baseline. This made the Czech left-hander save two breakpoints in the fifth game.
She mixed things up by moving to the net more frequently and after a trade of breaks, Kvitova succeeded in taking the opener with a second break of serve.
During the onset of the second set, the Czech champion lost concentration forcing her to scream several times to regain some positive energy and surge forward in the game.
“Second set I was down. It was really a big fight those two or three games which I really had to fight very hard. That probably was the turning point,” Kvitova said.