Petra Kvitova rallies past Aravane Rezai in opening round – French Open 2013
Former world number two, Petra Kvitova from Czech Republic, needed three sets to oust the local challenger, Aravane Rezai, at the Roland Garros 2013 on Wednesday.
She notched up a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory against the French to progress into the second round at this major clay court tournament taking place in Paris, France.
Seeded seventh at this event, Kvitova stayed focused at the Stade Roland Garros. She lost her track in the second set but found her rhythm again, eventually stealing the spotlight.
With this victory, the Czech avenged her loss at the Rogers Cup in Montreal three years ago and levelled the head-to-head series by 1-1 against Rezai.
The opening set saw a series of exchange of breaks. Kvitova stormed into the Court Suzanne Lenglen and leaped to a 4-1 lead with two breaks of serves. She then exchanged two serve breaks and consequently sealed the opener by winning six games to three.
The former world number 15, Rezai got back into the game in the following set. She got the coveted break in the third game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. Apart from losing her edge in the sixth game, the French remained calm and held her remaining serves with
poise. She got the breakthrough in the ninth game and clinched the equaliser with a 6-4 score line.
Kvitova re-gained her strength in the deciding set. She lost her opening serve but quickly took a 3-1 lead with two breaks of serve. The in-form Czech lost her serve again but went berserk. She reeled off the last three games and clicked the decider with
a 6-2 victory.
Summing up the Czech’s performance, Kvitova manipulated a better first serve share of 69 per cent in contrast with her rival’s 56 per cent and impressively clicked 35 out of 66 points on it. The 23-year-old spilled equal number of unforced errors (32) but
ended the match with 94 points.
Up next for the left-handed Czech is the Chinese contestant, Shuai Peng. The Chinese triumphed over Italy’s Camila Giorgi, in straight sets to advance. Peng recorded a 6-4, 6-2 score line against the gorgeous Italian.
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