In their first meeting since the final in Dubai, Bencic has been on a run of success that pitted her against the Czech for the fourth time. While Kvitova held the head-to-head lead, she wanted nothing more than to avenge her previous loss to the Swiss star.
The world number seven took almost a month off before returning to action and has done well winning four of her last five matches including a win over Kristina Mladenovic. Bencic had two big victories behind her, she planned to push herself to get a third and make the quarterfinals.
Bencic opened with a hold of serve but had to earn it. The 22-year-old gave it right back with a challenge of her own but couldn’t break either. They went through four games before Kvitova struck with a break in the fifth allowing Bencic a single point on serve. She consolidated a hold with her left-handed serve scoring on sliced shots that the world number ten had no chance to return.
With a two-game deficit, Bencic fought to hold in the seventh but gaining a break was still not what Kvitova allowed in the set. With her chance to take the set, the Czech drew errors from Bencic to reach set point and win on a final error that ended the first in 40 minutes. Bencic called for her father and coach to come down and figure a way to turn things around in the second set. She committed 17 unforced errors while her opponent launched a volley of winners totaling 16.
A terrific start for the ninth seed came in the shape of a strong defense and big hits for the break. Kvitova attempted to break back but found herself in a fight to hold serve. Despite forcing deuce, it remained a fight that lasted five break points with Bencic taking a 2-0 lead.
The seventh seed held in the third to get on the board followed by a break in the fourth turning the tide towards Czech. Consolidating it with a hold in the fifth gave her a path to keep the ninth seed behind her.
Kvitova did just that reaching the tenth game where she served for the match and won it on a delayed challenge that finally showed the players and fans in the stands that Bencic’s return landed out giving the win to the 29-year-old in 1 hour and 27 minutes.
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