NEW HAVEN: Two-time defending champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic advanced to the Connecticut Open quarter-finals, beating Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday night.

Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon winner and a bronze medallist in the Rio Olympics, won 10 straight games after falling behind 3-1 in the first set. She will face Ekaterina Makarova of Russia. Makarova won her second-round match on Tuesday.

Once Kvitova overcame her slow start and broke Bouchard’s serve to make it 3-2 in the first, she went on the attack. By the time she lost another game, she was leading the second set 5-1.

“I need a couple of games to find my rhythm,” Kvitova said. “I’ll never be the player who will wait for the [opponent’s] mistake.”

Bouchard said she started with an aggressive mindset, but started backing off to give herself more time to return Kvitova’s shots.

In hindsight, “I don’t think that was the right play,” Bouchard said. “She has a big game and when she’s on, she’s on. It’s tough to beat.”

Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens beat France’s Caroline Garcia 7-6 (3), 7-5 to set up a match against top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

“It all came down to a few points today,” said Flipkens, a winner over Venus Williams in Rio. “It could have gone her way as well.”

Second seed Roberta Vinci of Italy topped Croatia’s Ana Konjuh 6-2, 6-2. Vinci will face Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, a 7-6 (1), 6-4 winner over American Shelby Rogers 7-6 (1), 6-4.

Asked about the earthquake that struck Italy on Wednesday, Vinci said her family wasn’t directly affected.

“It’s not an easy day for Italy, for the Italians,” Vinci said. “It’s a tragedy.”-

GASQUET ADVANCES

LOS ANGELES: Top seed Richard Gasquet defeated French compatriot Stephane Robert 6-1, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Tour’s Winston-Salem Open on Wednesday.

Gasquet saved seven of eight break points and broke the unseeded Robert’s serve five times in the hardcourt tournament in North Carolina.

“I’ve known Stephane for a long time now, so I know how dangerous he can be,” Gasquet said.

“He likes to play close to the baseline. We’ve practised together often, so I know his game and he knows mine. I didn’t make many mistakes today, and that was the difference.”

Gasquet will next face Australia’s John Millman, who came from behind to win 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 against wild card Bjorn Fratangelo.

Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun advanced to his fourth straight Winston-Salem quarter-final with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman.

“Fortunately I played really well on game points and on break points,” Lu said. “My serve was there when I needed it, and that helped me a lot today.”

Next up for Lu will be number two seed Roberto Bautista Agut, of Spain, who defeated Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Fifteenth-seeded Fernando Verdasco fired 10 aces as he rolled over fourth seeded American Steve Johnson of the US 6-4, 7-6 (9-7).

In the quarter-finals, Verdasco will face Serbia’s Viktor Troicki, who toppled American Sam Querrey 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).

Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia advanced when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic retired at 5-5 in the first set.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2016