By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday September 22, 2021
The top two seeds powered to victory on Wednesday at the J&T Banka Ostrava Open, as Iga Swiatek and Petra Kvitova each registered wins.
Swiatek notched a 6-4, 6-4 win over the combative Yulia Putintseva, while Kvitova was forced to battle to get by Russian qualifier Anastasia Potapova, 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-3.
Swiatek had to manage the important moments well to slip past Putintseva in straights. From 4-4 in the first, she shifted gears and won the final eight points.
In the second set the Pole earned three break points to lead 3-2 but was thwarted by the Kazakh. At 4-4, under pressure, she saved a pair of break points to lead 5-4, then broke in the next game to secure victory in one hour and 47 minutes.
Swiatek will face either No.7-seeded Elena Rybakina or Magda Linette in the quarterfinals at Ostrava.
"I'm really happy I won, because normally it's really hard for me to play with such players," Swiatek said on court after her victory. "I like to risk and with risking comes unforced errors, so it's tough to get the balance between when to push and when to stay and wait for the opponent to miss."
Kvitova nearly raced through in straight sets but squandered a 6-1, 4-2 lead and ended up having to go the distance with 20-year-old Potapova.
The former champion eventually rallied, taking the final three games of the decider to close out her victory in two hours and six minutes.
Kvitova improves to 27-15 on the season, and will face either Jil Teichmann or Alison Riske in the quarterfinals.