Petra Kvitova beats van Uytvanck in 3 sets in St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Petra Kvitova advanced to the quarterfinals at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy by beating Alison van Uytvanck 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-2 on Thursday.

Kvitova saved a set point at 5-4 in the first set and then recovered after being broken in the first game of the decider. She then won six of the next seven games.

“It was pretty challenging today, for sure,” said Kvitova, who was playing for the first time since losing to Ash Barty in the Australian Open quarterfinals last month.

Kvitova will next play either seventh-seeded Donna Vekic or Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Also, sixth-seeded Maria Sakkari beat Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-4 and will next face top-seeded Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals.