February 12, 2014 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Petra Kvitova went to three sets for the fourth time in four career meetings with Venus Williams at the Qatar Total Open Wednesday, with Kvitova pulling off the win in two hours and 32 minutes, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(7). Kvitova reeled off four straight games from two-all to take the first set 6-2. Venus stormed through the second set, 6-2, and built a 4-1 lead in the third set, even holding three points for a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 advantage. But it was Kvitova coming from behind to even things up, winning five of the next seven games to push the match to a third set tie-break where Kvitova sealed the victory.
"Last year when I came to Doha I didn't really have confidence at the start of the season, and I just came here trying to win some matches," Kvitova said. "When I played Serena in the quarterfinals I played really great tennis. I lost, but I still got some confidence from that for my next matches. I remember it quite well. Serena was number one after she defeated me, so it was nice for her as well."
Kvitova will next face Lucie Safarova, a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 winner over Shuai Peng, in round three of the event.
