• Madrid Open

Kvitova powers past Zvonareva

Petra Kvitova's power hitting from the back of the court was too much for Vera Zvonareva © Getty Images

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Madrid seedings

Petra Kvitova proved she can operate on clay with a convincing win over second seed Vera Zvonareva in the third round of the Madrid Open.

The Czech has shown her quality on a range of surfaces, she made it to the semi-finals of Wimbledon on grass last year and the quarter-finals on the hard courts of the Australian Open this season, and she proved this with a powerful display of hitting from the back of the court.

Zvonareva did not play at all badly as she traded with her opponent and worked a string of break points, but Kvitova came up with the answers on the big points. Kvitova raced through the opening set courtesy of two breaks of serve, despite operating at a first-serve percentage of 45%.

The second set was more of a contest as Zvonareva attempted to fight back, but No. 16 seed Kvitova coverted both break points created as she worked to secure a 6-1 6-4 victory.

Kvitova will meet former French Open semi-finalist Dominika Cilbulkova in the quarter-finals after the Slovakian beat eighth seed Maria Sharapova in straight sets. Despite a first-serve success rate of 75%, the Russian was broken seven times as she fell 7-5 6-4.

In the second round, Dinara Safina departed after over two hours on court, losing 6-4 4-6 6-4 to Julia Goerges. Safina was a wildcard in the competition, but it was her serve that was wild as 15 double-faults helped Goerges out-break her opponent five times to four.

Meanwhile, sixth seed Na Li took less than an hour to dismantle Iveta Benesova, triumphing 6-1 6-4, Roberta Vinci beat Alisa Kleybanova 6-2 6-2, and seventh seed Jelena Jankovic was defeated 6-4 4-6 7-5 by Lucie Safarova.

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