Third-seed Petra Kvitova edged past Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck to reach the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy in Russia on Thursday.
Kvitova won a closely contested opening set, ending when the Czech raced through a tiebreaker, before Van Uytvanck hit back in the second, breaking Kvitova’s serve three times.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Kvitova edged the final set to win 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-2 and set up a quarterfinal match against either Croatia’s Donna Vekic or Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova, who play later on Thursday.
World No. 11 Kvitova was knocked out in the quarterfinals of last month’s Australian Open against Ashleigh Barty.
Elsewhere, Greece’s Maria Sakkari advanced to the quarterfinals, where she will face top-seed Belinda Bencic, after powering past France’s Alize Cornet in straight sets.