By Chris Oddo | Tuesday March 15, 2016

 

Petra Kvitova overcame Nicole Gibbs in three sets to set up a quarterfinal clash with Agnieszka Radwanska at Indian Wells.

Photo Source: Christopher Levy

There may be chaos in the ranks of the WTA, but nobody remembered to tell Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska, as each have taken their place in the quarterfinals here to set up an enticing matchup between longtime rivals.

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Kvitova edged up-and-coming American Nicole Gibbs, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open for a second consecutive year. Kvitova has now won all three of her matches in three sets, and she’s happy to be finding her form in what many players consider to be difficult conditions.

“I think every one is very important for me right now,” Kvitova said after the match. “Definitely this big fight which I had during this tournament helped me a lot. I just really need the matches. So probably two-and-a-half hours, it's great practice for me, too.”

Kvitova was up a break in the first set but lost her rhythm a bit and dropped the opener to Gibbs, a dangerous player who registered a career-best victory over world No. 24 Madision Keys in the second round before taking out Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round.

But the Czech would break twice in each of the final two sets. She notched a decisive break in the seventh game of the decider and reeled off three of the final four games to close out another hard-fought win.

It’s a good sign for Kvitova that she’s now won four consecutive deciders. She had dropped her last four and five of her last six dating back to last year’s U.S. Open.

Kvitova will face Radwanska for the tenth time on Wednesday in the desert. The Czech has gotten the better of Radwanska over the life of their rivalry, but Radwanska’s win over Kvitova in the finals at Singapore last year represents a big breakthrough for the Pole.

“The last match we played in Singapore was different conditions, definitely, playing indoor compared here,” Kvitova said. “Weather should be very warm. Aga is playing really good game. I just probably will need, you know, [to be] playing really good way, tactically well, playing aggressively, going for it.”

Radwanska eased past Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 6-3, and the Pole is now just one match from reclaiming the WTA’s No. 2 ranking. Radwanska improved to 7-2 lifetime versus Jankovic and is now 27-9 at Indian Wells. The 2014 runner-up has now reached the quarterfinals or better on six occasions here in the desert.