Kvitova saves four match points, edges Pegula in Indian Wells

Petra Kvitova is back in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals for the first time in seven years, but she had to get there the hard way.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova had to save four match points before battling past No.3 seed Jessica Pegula 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(11) in a gripping Round-of-16 clash on Tuesday.

No.15 seed Kvitova of the Czech Republic, who previously reached the Indian Wells quarterfinals in 2013 and 2016, needed 2 hours and 14 minutes to outlast American No.1 Pegula in a topsy-turvy affair on Stadium 1.

Kvitova now holds a commanding 4-1 head-to-head lead over Pegula, and she has beaten the World No.3 both times they have played this season. Kvitova defeated Pegula at United Cup in January, mere days before Pegula upset World No.1 Iga Swiatek at the team event.

Sunshine surge: Making her 12th appearance in Indian Wells this year, another win for 33-year-old Kvitova would be a breakthrough — she has never reached the BNP Paribas Open semifinals.

In fact, Kvitova has never reached a semifinal at either of the “Sunshine Double” events — she has lost three times in the Miami Open quarterfinals as well.

But Kvitova has played her best against the best of late — she is 5-0 in her last five matches against Top 5 opposition.

Key moments: The first set was all Kvitova, where she won 16 of her 20 service points and never faced break point. However, Pegula battled back in the second set, where she reeled off 12 of the last 13 points.

Pegula broke Kvitova at love in the first game of the third set, as part of a 14-point winning streak, and she kept herself ahead during the back-and-forth decider up to 5-4, where she held her first match point.

Kvitova, though, erased that chance with a blistering forehand winner, and the Czech used a strong forehand return to level matters at 5-5. Pegula moved ahead by a break once more at 6-5, but Kvitova broke back immediately to queue up the tiebreak.

In the breaker, Pegula had match points at 6-5, 8-7 and 11-10, but Kvitova used her power game to swat away each of those opportunities with winners. Kvitova also saw her first three match points fended off by Pegula, but she converted her fourth by catching the sideline with a volley winner.

Showdown with Sakkari: Kvitova’s quarterfinal opponent will be last year’s runner-up Maria Sakkari. No.7 seed Sakkari also came through a closely-contested three-setter on Tuesday, moving past No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to make the quarterfinals.

More to come…