Petra Kvitova rediscovers form after knife attack as she blows Garbine Muguruza away

Back on top: Petra Kvitova fights to her best win since returning in May from a knife attack at her home
Getty Images for USTA
Paul Newman4 September 2017

Less than eight months after doctors told her that she would probably never play again because of horrific injuries sustained in a knife attack, Petra Kvitova is within three victories of crowning her remarkable comeback by winning the US Open.

The two-times Wimbledon champion, who was out of the game for five months after being attacked in her home last December, reached the quarter-finals when she beat Garbine Muguruza, the current holder of the All England Club title, 7-6, 6-3 here on Sunday. It was the 27-year-old Czech’s best performance since her return at the end of May.

Muguruza, the No3 seed, had been the favourite for the title after maintaining her Wimbledon form through the summer but the Spaniard, having lost only nine games in her first three matches, was outhit and outplayed as Kvitova struck the ball with enormous power.

Kvitova’s left hand might never recover fully from the injuries she sustained when she pulled away the knife that an intruder held to her throat during the attack in her home in the Czech Republic but she has worked tirelessly on her rehabilitation and proved that she has lost none of her timing or competitive spirit. Although she hit nine double faults, her big leftie serve was also a potent weapon.

Kvitova, who has yet to drop a set here, said that it had taken a while for her to rediscover her form but “luckily I found it at a Grand Slam”. She added: “The touch is there and the strength and the aggressive game plan. I just need to have everything together to click but I’m glad it’s still there.”

Muguruza said Kvitova had deserved her victory and thought it “incredible” that she was playing at such a high level again. In the opening set Kvitova recovered after trailing 4-1, only to drop her serve when leading 6-5. In the tie-break, which Kvitova won 7-3, Muguruza missed an easy volley at 3-4 and then double faulted before Kvitova took a hold on the match with a point won in typical style as she followed up a big serve with a pounding forehand and a winning smash.

Muguruza broke in the opening game of the second set but Kvitova then won four games in a row. Her nerves were evident in the final game as she double faulted twice and had to save three break points but in the end Muguruza’s two successive missed forehands handed her the victory.

Kvitova admitted that she had tightened up towards the finish. “That was the kind of moment I’ve dreamed of playing again, against great players on the big stages,” she said. “That was one of the motivations to come back.”

She added: “Until now in my comeback I hadn’t played any of the great players, so this was something really special for me.”

In nine previous appearances here Kvitova had reached the quarter-finals only once, losing in 2015 to Flavia Pennetta, the eventual champion.

The Czech, who had never previously won a match in Arthur Ashe Stadium, has struggled in the heat and humidity here in the past but the cooler conditions have been more to her liking.

She will take on another player with a great Wimbledon pedigree tomorrow when she faces the five-times champion Venus Williams, who beat Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

In the other quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw, the American Sloane Stephens will face Anastasija Sevastova after the Latvian ended Maria Sharapova’s run in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will move within one victory apiece of a semi-final showdown if they win their fourth-round matches today. Nadal takes on Alexandr Dolgopolov, while Federer meets Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Sam Querrey will become the first American man to play in the quarter-finals here since 2011 after crushing Mischa Zverev 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.

He next faces Kevin Anderson while Pablo Carreno Busta and Diego Schwartzman meet in the other quarter-final.

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