Romanian Sorana Cirstea produced a shock in Melbourne today, beating 2019 Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.
Kvitova looked troubled for most of the match and ended up making 18 unforced errors in the first set.
With only a 50 per cent first serve percentage, Kvitova needed a change for the second set.
She changed her kit, found some rhythm and eventually broke down Cirstea to level the tie.
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But it was Cirstea who emerged triumphant, breaking Kvitova’s serve as she won the deciding set comfortably.
“I’ve had a lot of matches against Petra and she’s an amazing player,” Cirstea said.
“She hits the ball so hard and it took me a while to adjust to the game but once I was in there I felt that I could beat her and I felt quite confident. I’m really happy and very happy with this win.
“In the second set she stepped up a bit and I backed off and I think today was a matter of who took control of the point. In the second I played too defensive but once that was over I tried to get back closer to the line and to try to dictate the point and it worked.
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“The main thing right now is recovery. I was one of the few in hard quarantine so right now playing two hours in 30 degrees heat takes a bit more out of me than normal but it’s impressive to come out of quarantine for 15 days without hitting a ball and be able to compete the way I did today. I did not expect it.”
The Romanian will play another Czech – Marketa Vondrousova – in the third round.