Czech players were in fine form on Wednesday at the AGEL Open being played in Ostrava, Czech Republic. While two players won their first-round matches, one player advanced into the quarter-finals. Karolina Muchova upset the seventh-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia in their opening-round clash, 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 42 minutes.
Muchova saved six of the eight break points she faced while converting four of the six break points she had on the Brazilian’s serve. In the second round, Muchova will play Cathy McNally. Meanwhile, Barbora Krejcikova also reached the second round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Shelby Rogers.
Krejcikova, who won the Tallinn Open last week needed an hour and 17 minutes to wrap up the win. She won 86% of her first-serve points and saved all four break points she faced. The 2021 French Open winner also converted all four break points she had on the American’s serve.
Next up for Krejcikova is sixth seed Belinda Bencic.
AGEL Open: Petra Kvitova downs Paula Badosa
Lastly, Petra Kvitova made her way into the quarter-finals of her home event. The two-time Wimbledon winner upset second seed Paula Badosa, 7-6(4), 6-4 in two hours and two minutes.
Although the score-line seems straightforward enough, the match was anything but simple for Kvitova. The former world no. 2 needed eight match points to vanquish her higher-ranked opponent. Kvitova had 42 winners, more than twice as many as Badosa’s 19.
She also had 26 unforced errors, 19 more than the Spaniard’s tally of seven. After the win, Kvitova said, “The whole match, every game was very, very tight. It was really about a few points. Paula really played great.
It was really tough to break each other, but in the second set, we did it a few times. I had to really close it out with good serves because, otherwise, she put everything back in the last few games. It was really difficult physically, and mentally as well”.
Kvitova will take on Elena Rybakina next. The Kazakh got past Aliaksandra Sasnovich in their round-of-16 clash, 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-5 after two hours and 32 minutes of play. At the start of the day, top seed Iga Swiatek made her way through to the quarter-finals of the AGEL Open.
Against Ajla Tomljanovic, Swiatek led 7-5, 2-2 before the latter decided to stop the match after suffering an injury to her knee. Swiatek now awaits the winner between Karolina Muchova and Cathy McNally. Photo Credit: Petra Kvitova Twitter
