Petra Kvitova saved two match points in the second set and converted her fifth in the third-set tiebreak to defeat Garbine Muguruza and reach the fourth round of the 2022 US Open, 5-7 6-3 7-6(10).
After very confident service holds on both sides, Kvitova stopped the trend to go 4-2 up in the first set. The Czech’s lead was short-lived, as the ninth-seeded Muguruza broke back right away. At 5-all, Kvitova produced three double faults in a single game and helped Muguruza edge the opener.
Unlike in the first set, Kvitova didn’t let her lead slip away in the second set. From 4-2, the seed No.21 stayed strong and sealed the second set with her eleventh ace to force a decider.
The recently engaged Kvitova recovered from 2-5 to 5-5 in the third set, even though Muguruza was just a point away from earning a set/match point at 5-3. Leading 6-5, Muguruza didn’t convert two match points on her opponent’s serve and Kvitova managed to hold after fighting through five deuces in a ten-minute game.
In a super tiebreak, Kvitova could sense victory when she went ahead 7-4, but Muguruza magnificently saved two consecutive match points and leveled to 9-9. In the end, the Spaniard never managed to go ahead in the tiebreak and Kvitova converted her fifth match point.
Kvitova now leads Muguruza 6-1 in their head-to-head stats.
In the fourth round, Kvitova will face American eighth seed Jessica Pegula, who defeated Yuan Yue 6-2 6-7(6) 6-0.
Entertaining match between two powerful players. It looked like Petra was having allergy problems. She mouth breathed a lot like her nose was stuffy and on changeover breaks, she went to the tissue to the nose a lot.