Tough test could serve Kvitova well for harder duels ahead

Kvitova cruised through the first set and seemed on course for a routine win, only for the Spaniard to hit back, win the second and then claim an early break of serve in the decider.

Having spent the previous half hour spraying the ball all over Hisense Arena, the Czech showed commendable composure to relocate her game and break back twice to move through 6-2 2-6 6-4.

With the majority of her title rivals easing through their opening two matches, Kvitova could be forgiven for feeling she wasted precious energy on beating the world No 58.

But instead the Czech believed having a tough match could have benefits should she progress deep into the fortnight.

The second seed said: “It was very important to have a match like this in the tournament. And it’s good that I came through and won for my mentality.

“It was very tough, and I fought today. So it was good preparation for the next match. I know that I can fight and I can win if I’m playing badly.

“She played very well in the second set and it was very tough for me to get back in the third.

“She was a very, very good opponent.”

Kvitova’s struggles were in stark contrast to Maria Sharapova’s routine win over Jamie Hampton.

Fourth seed Sharapova beat the American 6-0 6-1, replicating her emphatic first-round victory over Gisela Dulko.

Although the Russian has dropped just two games in reaching the third round she hit back at the suggestion her record indicated a lack of depth in the women’s game.

“You never know what you’re going to get,” she said.

“Sometimes we come out and we play three-set matches from the beginning, and then it’s a question of ‘you’re top five in the world, why is someone challenging you to three sets from the beginning?’.

“I think it’s just an excuse to make another story. That’s really what it all comes down to.”

Thirteen-time grand slam singles champion Serena Williams was pushed a little harder, especially in the second set, before progressing courtesy of a 6-0 6-4 defeat of Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

Williams’s scheduled fourth-round opponent is Vera Zvonareva and the seventh seed moved a step closer to that clash with a 6-1 7-6 (7/3) victory over Lucie Hradecka.

Fifteenth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bowed out after a 5-7 6-3 6-4 defeat to American Vania King but former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic progressed thanks to a 6-2 6-3 win over Michaella Krajicek while 14th-seed German Sabine Lisicki was a 6-1 6-2 victor over Shahar Peer.

Ninth seed Marion Bartoli knocked out Australian Jelena Dokic, the Frenchwoman requiring 72 minutes to go through 6-3 6-2.