No. 9 of '22: Petra Kvitova edges Garbine Muguruza in US Open third-rounder that felt like a final

INTERVIEW: Just before the US Open, Petra Kvitova went deep in Cincy

Once upon a time, Kvitova vs. Muguruza would have been Grand Slam final material. The Czech and the Spaniard have each won two majors, and lost an Australian Open final. Muguruza is a former No. 1, Kvitova a former No. 2. Each is 6-feet tall, and among the most imposing WTA players of the past decade.

But Kvitova is 32 now, and Muguruza 29, and it has been five years since either won a Slam. Neither was seeded in the Top 8 at the Open, which meant they met in the third round instead of the second week. As if in defiance of those sobering facts, they went ahead and staged one of the most dramatic contests of the year, one in which each woman held multiple match points, and one that wasn’t decided until overtime in a third-set super-tiebreaker.

“Oh my God, it’s been a tough match today,” Kvitova said with a weary smile when it was over.

In the next breath, she admitted that she didn’t expect it to be so close. It’s hard to blame her. Kvitova came in with a 5-1 record against Muguruza, and it had been seven years she had lost to her. Whatever Muguruza could do—namely, fire her flat ground strokes into the corners—Kvitova could do better. Kvitova was also coming off a promising run to the Cincinnati final two weeks earlier, while Muguruza had been mired in a subpar season, one which saw her lose in the first round at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and give away leads seemingly on a weekly basis.

But Muguruza has always been a momentum player, and she managed to dig in and build some at Flushing Meadows, by beating two rising young players, Clara Tauson and Linda Fruhvirtova, in her first two matches. That carried over into the first set and a half against Kvitova, when it was Muguruza who took the ball earlier, got ahead in the rallies, and hung tough in the important points.

Still, while it takes Muguruza a match or two to get rolling, Kvitova can turn her form around and change the course of a match—for better or worse—with one sweeping swing of her racquet. On this day, that swing came when she was serving at 2-2 in the second set. At that stage, Muguruza seemed poised to keep marching ahead, but Kvitova stopped her in her tracks by leaning into a backhand down the line for a winner, and immediately following it with two aces to hold. She lost just one more game that set.

I really had to fight, fight, fight, to win this match. Petra Kvitova

The momentum swings were just getting started. Muguruza settled back down in the third, broke at 3-2, served for the match at 5-3, and twice reached match point on Kvitova’s serve at 6-5. Kvitova saved one of them with an ace, and Muguruza lost the other by rushing a routine forehand into the net.

In the tiebreaker, it was Kvitova’s turn to rush things. Up 9-8, match point, she served and volleyed for the first time all day. Muguruza kept her cool under that pressure, and sent a winning forehand pass crosscourt. After changing sides, with the tension and summer heat in Louis Armstrong Stadium at a peak, Kvitova turned things around one last time. She hit a forehand winner, and Muguruza finally caved and hit a forehand into the net.

Once again, after all these years, whatever the Spaniard could do, the Czech could do a little bit better.

“I really had to fight, fight, fight, to win this match, especially with the break down in the third,” Kvitova said after her 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (10) win. “Facing a few match points on my serve, and the tiebreaker was just a nightmare.

“I’m glad that it somehow worked out.”