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Czech Kvitova was stunned by Priscilla Hon in the first round at
Adelaide last week and came close to another shock as she lost
the opening set tamely against the world number 66 and was then
dragged into a second set tiebreak.
However, Kvitova clawed her way back to level the contest at one
set each and saved two match points in the decider before
wrapping up the near three-hour match on Ken Rosewall Arena.
"I really had to fight a lot. I lost my first match in Adelaide
and after losing in the beginning of the season, you don't feel
the best, and that was my case," Kvitova said.
"It's been a long time since I turned a match from match points
so this is something special."
Also advancing to the next round of the Australian Open warm-up
event was Spain's Paula Badosa, who beat former French Open
champion Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(1) 6-1.
"A match against Jelena is always tough," said Badosa, who had a
breakthrough season in 2021 and captured titles in Belgrade and
Indian Wells.
"She's a tough player and you never know how good she can be
that day, so I'm really happy with my first win of the year."
In the evening session, Tunisian seventh seed Ons Jabeur was
flawless on serve as she made light work of local hope Astra
Sharma, racing to a 6-1 6-3 win. Sharma improved in the second
set but was let down by a string of unforced errors as Jabeur
continued her fine form from last season.
Russia's Daria Kasatkina pulled off a surprise win against 2020
Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, prevailing 6-4 6-0 over
the American in just over an hour.
In the men's ATP 250 tournament in Sydney, eighth seed David
Goffin rolled past Argentina's Facundo Bagnis 6-4 6-4.
Australian Nick Kyrgios, who pulled out of last week's Melbourne
Summer Set tournament due to asthma, withdrew from his clash
with Italian seventh seed Fabio Fognini, later saying that he
had tested positive for COVID-19.
Kyrgios, however, said he hoped to be fit for the Australian
Open, which begins on Jan. 17.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru and Anita
Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Christian
Radnedge)
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