Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic has been through more trauma in the past few years than many experience in a lifetime. So, a tennis match that stretches into three sets and lasts 213 points over 2 hours 36 minutes is barely anything to blink about — especially when you end up winning.
Kvitova, 29, the world’s second-ranked player, defeated 25th-ranked Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Saturday at the Miami Open, giving herself a better chance to take the world’s No. 1 spot should she at minimum advance to the final next week — an opportunity made more tangible by top-ranked Naomi Osaka’s upset loss later Saturday to Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei.