MADRID, Spain - While most people were expecting a quarterfinal duel between two of the best Russian players in WTA history, a Czech and a Slovak had very different ideas. Petra Kvitova and Dominika Cibulkova came through when it counted on Wednesday, beating Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova to move into the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
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Kvitova, the No.16 seed and the only left-hander in the Top 30, was the first to advance, stunning No.2 seed Zvonareva, 61 64. After the two held their opening serve games Kvitova went on an absolute tear, winning eight of the next nine games to build a 61 31 lead. Zvonareva broke back in the second set and caught up to 4-all, but it was too late as Kvitova broke again then served it out.
"I knew I had to start fast and play aggressively," Kvitova declared. "Vera was playing a bit defensively from the first point. She played better in the second set, hitting some winners, and I got a little bit nervous, but I knew what I had to do."
Kvitova's win over the No.3-ranked Zvonareva means she now has wins against Top 3 players on all three surfaces. She beat then-No.3 Caroline Wozniacki at Wimbledon last year (grass) and No.2 Kim Clijsters at Paris this year (hard).
At night, Cibulkova ground out a 75 64 win over No.8 seed Sharapova, although she had to work very hard to close out both sets. She originally led 5-3 in the first set before Sharapova won two love games to close to 5-all, and she had a 4-0 second set lead when her determined opponent won four games in a row to catch up to 4-all. It was not to be in the end for Sharapova, however.
"It's never easy to play against Maria because she's a great player and a great fighter. It was not easy to finish this match today," Cibulkova commented.
Cibulkova scored her third Top 10 win of the year, having previously beaten No.1-ranked Wozniacki at Sydney and No.3-ranked Zvonareva at Indian Wells.
Kvitova leads Cibulkova in their head-to-head, 2-0, both straight set victories earlier this year, although both matches came on hardcourts.
"Hopefully I can get revenge. I've lost to her twice this year," Cibulkova said. "She's playing really well but I also have good form so my goal is to show good tennis. I had some injury problems in Stuttgart and I'm happy I'm back."
Watch Madrid starting Monday on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Kvitova, the No.16 seed and the only left-hander in the Top 30, was the first to advance, stunning No.2 seed Zvonareva, 61 64. After the two held their opening serve games Kvitova went on an absolute tear, winning eight of the next nine games to build a 61 31 lead. Zvonareva broke back in the second set and caught up to 4-all, but it was too late as Kvitova broke again then served it out.
"I knew I had to start fast and play aggressively," Kvitova declared. "Vera was playing a bit defensively from the first point. She played better in the second set, hitting some winners, and I got a little bit nervous, but I knew what I had to do."
Kvitova's win over the No.3-ranked Zvonareva means she now has wins against Top 3 players on all three surfaces. She beat then-No.3 Caroline Wozniacki at Wimbledon last year (grass) and No.2 Kim Clijsters at Paris this year (hard).
At night, Cibulkova ground out a 75 64 win over No.8 seed Sharapova, although she had to work very hard to close out both sets. She originally led 5-3 in the first set before Sharapova won two love games to close to 5-all, and she had a 4-0 second set lead when her determined opponent won four games in a row to catch up to 4-all. It was not to be in the end for Sharapova, however.
"It's never easy to play against Maria because she's a great player and a great fighter. It was not easy to finish this match today," Cibulkova commented.
Cibulkova scored her third Top 10 win of the year, having previously beaten No.1-ranked Wozniacki at Sydney and No.3-ranked Zvonareva at Indian Wells.
Kvitova leads Cibulkova in their head-to-head, 2-0, both straight set victories earlier this year, although both matches came on hardcourts.
"Hopefully I can get revenge. I've lost to her twice this year," Cibulkova said. "She's playing really well but I also have good form so my goal is to show good tennis. I had some injury problems in Stuttgart and I'm happy I'm back."
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