London: Two-time former champion Petra Kvitova cruised into the third round at Wimbledon on Friday, the ninth seed brushing aside the challenge of Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-2 on a sun-drenched Court Two.
The 33-year-old Czech, who triumphed in 2011 and 2014, has got past the third round only once since her second victory but did not need to be anywhere near her best in a match full of errors, most of them from Sasnovich, who has never gone beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam in 10 years of trying.
Kvitova warmed up for Wimbledon with a grasscourt title in Berlin and though they traded early breaks, the Czech always looked to be on top and broke for 4-2, with Sasnovich dropping serve again, finishing with a double fault, to lose the first set.
The Belarusian, sporting full length white leggings, briefly perked up to break for 1-1 in the second but it did not last as the error count remained high in the face of Kvitova’s deep and accurate groundstrokes and the favourite cruised home in 74 minutes.
"It’s always difficult to play her, always a battle, and I’m happy that somehow I found a way and I’m through," said Kvitova, who is the fifth-highest earning female player with almost 37 million dollars banked.
"I really enjoyed the it. You never know how long you can play but I wish it never ends – all the support is always amazing.”
Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk reached the Wimbledon third round for the first time after her Spanish opponent Paula Badosa retired with an injury during their match on Friday.
The 21-year-old Kostyuk was leading 6-2 1-0 when Badosa pulled out with a back problem.
Kostyuk defeated eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round and will hope to continue her run against either 25th seed Madison Keys or Viktorija Golubic.
