In front of a packed stadium, Kvitova started off poorly once again. Just like in her dropped opening sets to Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki, the Czech struggled to reign in her shots.
"I had a tough match against [Radwanska] in the second round, which I thought probably I'm done in the match because I couldn't really move, and I didn't know how to turn that match [around]," Kvitova said. "So on the other hand, probably that gave me something more than just the match."
With the No. 4-seeded Muguruza up 5-0 in what felt like seconds, Kvitova could have let the first set go. But instead, she did what the most experienced players know to do: she dug in. The chances of her winning that set was extremely unlikely, but by battling her way back to 5-3, she gave herself some momentum going into the next set.
"I tried to come back somehow to play more rallies," Kvitova said. "I made a lot of unforced errors, same as yesterday, so probably all the experience which I had through this tournament helped me to turn it around today as well."
Kvitova then found her range, something Muguruza was wary of.
"In the second set it was more what I was expecting: a tough match," Muguruza said.
Kvitova won their last meeting at the US Open in straight sets, and now leads their head-to-head record 4-1. When she controls the point with her big serves and bigger groundstrokes, and steps into the court with her imposing frame, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop her.
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