Petra Kvitova returned to the Western & Southern Open quarterfinals with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 defeat of No.5 seed Ons Jabeur in 1 hour and 47 minutes. Kvitova will face Wimbledon quarterfinalist Ajla Tomljanovic.
Here's a snapshot of the key numbers from Kvitova's rollercoaster win.
4: Wins Kvitova has over Jabeur, including a 6-1, 6-2 win at the same stage of Cincinnati last year. The Czech leads their overall head-to-head 4-1, and this was the first in the series to go to a deciding set. Jabeur's sole victory came in Sydney this year.
Kvitova joins Maria Sakkari as the only players who have four career wins against Jabeur.
4: Number of Cincinnati quarterfinals Kvitova has now reached. She was a semifinalist in 2012 and 2018, and also reached the last eight in 2021. Despite this, her winning percentage at the tournament prior to this week was only 55% -- her second-lowest at any WTA 1000 event, above only Rome (50%). Jabeur is the first Top 10 player she has beaten in Cincinnati.
Petra keeps on rollin' 🤙
— wta (@WTA) August 18, 2022
🇨🇿 @Petra_Kvitova fight past No.5 seed Jabeur to progress to her fourth quarterfinal in Cincinnati!
Plays either Tomljanovic or Kudermetova 🔜#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/i3dxNwdrtn
2: Top 5 victories in 2022 for Kvitova. This result follows her 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Aryna Sabalenka in the second round of Dubai. It is just her third victory in her last 17 meetings with a Top 10 player, dating back to the 2019 Beijing quarterfinals.
20: Match-wins in 2022 for Kvitova. Her season record after Birmingham in June was in the red at 10 wins to 13 losses. But starting from her title run the following week in Eastbourne, Kvitova has 10 wins to only two losses.
8: Number of times Jabeur has been bagelled at tour level. The first four occasions came before she cracked the Top 100. The past three have all been on North American hard courts.
2012 London Olympics R1, l. Sabine Lisicki 4-6, 6-0, 7-5
2013 Doha R1, l. Sorana Cirstea 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
2014 Oeiras R2, l. Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-0
2016 Rabat R1, l. Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-0, 6-2
2020 Shenzhen R1, l. Wang Qiang 6-0, 6-3
2021 Montréal QF, l. Jessica Pegula 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-0
2021 Chicago 500 F, l. Garbiñe Muguruza 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
2022 Cincinnati R2, l. Petra Kvitova 6-1, 4-6, 6-0
31: Winners struck by Kvitova, including five aces, to 43 unforced errors. The World No.28 also found her best returns on big points, slamming clean winners to break for 4-0 in the first set and for 5-0 in the third set. A series of deep, powerful returns also elicited key errors from Jabeur.
30: Unforced errors committed by Jabeur, to only nine winners. The Tunisian coughed up two double faults in her opening service game and only landed 35% of her first serves in the first set. This improved to 62% in the second set, which -- along with a dip in Kvitova's form -- enabled Jabeur to level the match. But the Wimbledon finalist fell away precipitously in the decider, showing vocal frustration at her form throughout.
Nonetheless, Jabeur still managed to come up with a sprinkling of her trademark hot shots. A whipped forehand pass in the second game of the second set was a springboard to get a foothold in the match; and she pulled off a remarkable sliced backhand passing shot from behind the service line and with the ball dipping below net height to reach set point.
Ons showing out! 😎@Ons_Jabeur | #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/nidlwtSKr3
— wta (@WTA) August 18, 2022
Ajla Tomljanovic d. Veronika Kudermetova 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.
Playing in her 40th WTA 1000 main draw, Tomljanovic advanced to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal with another gritty comeback. Following up on her late-night heroics to beat No.3 seed Paula Badosa, Tomljanovic turned around to mount a victorious comeback against No.20 Veronika Kudermetova.
Having come through qualifying, the 63rd-ranked Tomljanovic was broken twice in the opening set and once in the second. But after edging Kudermetova in the second-set tiebreak, Tomljanovic saved the only break point she faced in the final set, breaking Kudermetova in the penultimate game and closing out a 2-hour and 57-minute win.