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Monica Puig thought she had a chance to complete another win over Petra Kvitova but it was not the case at the Mutua Madrid Open Tuesday afternoon.
A good start from the world No.10 had her working for a straight sets win in the second completing a thrilling tiebreak to win 6-3, 7-6(8) on Manolo Santana Court at La Caja Magica. It became her seventh straight victory since winning Prague and the 22nd of her career in the Spanish capital.
The series between the two has been in favor of the Puerto Rican who has a lot of confidence built.
Her win on Sunday became the first time Puig won a match in the tournament. Although its been two years since her wins against Kvitova at Tokyo and the Olympics, the opportunity to keep her winning ways alive was going to depend on her playing against the 2015 champion.
The match began with Kvitova gaining a lead in the opening set before Puig found a way to get on the board.
They got into a tie at two all but a break in the fifth allowed Kvitova breathing room to force Puig into submission.
The 28-year-old allowed her opponent one more win before she swiftly took the set away 6-3.
The second went a whole different direction as Puig’s fight showed a lot more strength coming out of the blocks.
She did work on her serve bringing heat from her forehand to secure her first game with the ball in hand.
They continued on with the holds of serve where the match gave reminders of the Olympic semifinals between the two.
Each game was hard fought including the 11th where Kvitova saved eight break points that gave her the lead but watched as Puig saved the set to force a tiebreak.
Kvitova wasn’t out of the woods as they ran neck and neck through the final game that spanned 16 points with no sign of a winner.
Fatigue and endurance played a role in the clear moment where the Czech managed to get a 9-8 lead on Puig before capturing match point to end the stress of completing a straight-sets win in one hour and 53 minutes.
It was clear that the match wasn’t a complete success as Kvitova made eight double faults in the second set but managed to go flawless on break point wins.
With her first win written in stone against the reigning Olympic gold medalist, She’ll look to Thursday facing the winner of Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Anett Kontaveit in the third round.
