French Open: Petra Kvitova through after win over Danko Kovinic
Sunday 22 May 2016 17:16, UK
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova battled back from the brink of defeat to beat Montenegro's Danka Kovinic in the French Open first round.
Kvitova's best performance at Roland Garros was a semi-final in 2012 and at 4-5 down in the deciding set she was staring at another early Grand Slam exit in 2016 after a second round defeat at the Australian Open.
However, the 10th seed battled back superbly in an entertaining first match on Philippe-Chatrier Court to reel off three successive games and seal an epic victory in 2hrs 17mins and set up a second round encounter with Su-Wei Hsieh who was another early winner on the opening day.
Kvitova came through the first set in straightforward fashion but an inspired Kovinic hit back in the second set to level the match.
Having served strongly in the opener, Kvitova was vulnerable on her serve in the second and with both women unable to consolidate after breaking their opponent it was Kovinic who edged the second, fittingly by breaking the Czech.
In the deciding third set it looked to be Kovinic who held her nerve, a crucial break at 4-4 thanks to an incredible 10th double fault from Kvitova, which left Kovinic serving for the match.
But Kvitova summoned up all the qualities of a Grand Slam champion to break back immediately at 5-5 and then holding serve for a 6-5 lead. With Kovinic serving to level the match it was the experience of Kvitova that came through breaking to 30 to breath a huge sigh of relief, and earn a place in the next round.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was the first winner on a grey morning in the French capital, the 24th seed with a comfortable 6-2 6-0 success over Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo, while Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic surprised Alison Riske for a first round win.
Last year's runner-up Lucie Safarova booked her place in the second round with a 6-0 6-2 win, she was untroubled by world number 223 Diatchenko who was playing her first match since injuring her left foot at the US Open last year.
