Czech tennis player Petra Kvitova returns a ball during day four of the Madrid Open tournament at the Caja Magica (Magic Box) sports complex in Madrid on May 5, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
The hard-hitting Czech, who missed the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments because of exhaustion and suffered a first-round exit on indoor clay in Stuttgart last month, was in control when she led by a set and was 2-1 up in the next set.
However, American world number 36 Vandeweghe then took five games in a row to turn the match on its head and stood toe-to-toe with the Wimbledon champion in the decider before faltering.
Kvitova broke in the eighth game when her opponent netted a forehand and she completed the victory with a flourish.
Meanwhile, there were no alarms for defending champion Maria Sharapova as she crushed Colombia’s Mariana Duque-Mariño 6-1, 6-2.
Former runner-up Victoria Azarenka set up a third-round clash with top seed Serena Williams with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic.
Topping the early men’s programme on Tuesday was Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and French showman Gael Monfils, both of whom enjoyed easy victories on the red clay.
Tenth seed Dimitrov was 6-4, 3-0 ahead when American opponent Donald Young quit with an injury while Monfils dropped only two games against Serbian Viktor Troicki.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2015.
Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ