Petra Kvitova rallies past Sorana Cirstea in round three – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
Seeded fourth in the tournament, Petra Kvitova, required three sets to tumble over the Romanian star, Sorana Cirstea, at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Thursday. She nudged up a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 success against the 22-year-old Romanian to labour into
the quarter-finals at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) clay court event held in Rome, Italy.
The top Czech displayed her best tennis to outfox Cirstea in a three-set thriller in their fourth encounter. After stealing the show in one hour and 42 minutes, Kvitova not only avenged her loss at the e-Boks Open in Copenhagen two years ago but also took
lead in the head-to-head series by 3-1 against the world number 45.
"Sorana made many mistakes and her shots were flying in the first set, but then she started to be more precise in the second set," the beaming Czech reflected in a courtside interview after the match. "I tried to come back in the second set, I was down 5-1
and got to 5-all, but she won it. But I started waiting for the right shots again in the third. I'm happy to win today."
Kvitova thundered into Foro Italico and stroke out the opening four games in a row before the Romanian could hold on. She then plucked remaining serves with self-assurance and bagged the opener by winning six games to two.
The Bucharest native on the other end hit back with a fitting reply as she earned the desiderated break in the second game to jump to a 3-0 lead. She broke Kvitova’s serve once more and extended her lead by 5-1. However, Cirstea not only squandered her chance
of serving out the set with a breadstick but lost her edge in the ninth game to tie the scores at 5-5. The Romanian stayed calm and cashed in her third break opportunity in the last game to pull out the equaliser with a 7-5 win.
Ranked fourth in the WTA Premier Rankings, Kvitova found her rhythm at the crucial stage. She got the coveted break in the opening game and apart from losing her serve in the very next game, the Czech capitalised on another break chance and leaped to a 3-1
lead. She continued sliding in remaining serves and broke her opponent’s serve once again to click the decider with a 6-2 score line.
Next in line for the high-spirited Czech is the 12th seed, Angelique Kerber, who crippled her compatriot, Julia Goerges, with a breadstick to set-up this battle.
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