Petra Kvitova edges Garbiñe Muguruza in third-set tiebreaker to complete comeback, advance at US Open

Petra Kvitova obliterated two match points and converted her fourth on Saturday in a showdown between two-time Major champions against Garbiñe Muguruza 5-7 6-3 7-6 (10).

Kvitova kept coming back – after losing the first set, after falling 5-2 in the third and after dropping a point twice 6-5 – to advance to the fourth round of the US Open. No. 21 Kvitova meets No. 8 Jessica Pegula on Monday, who defeated qualifier Yuan Yue 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-0 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

That’s how close this one was: Kvitova won 109 total points, Muguruza 108.

It took the new format of the final set tiebreaker to determine the winner. The four Grand Slam tournaments agreed to adopt a unified system this year, with the third sets of the women’s games and the fifth sets of the men’s games being decided on a 1-10, 2-win formula; The US Open used to have the more traditional first-to-seven setup.

Kvitova, a left-hander who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, overcame 12 double faults with 14 aces and 50 overall. She improved to 6-1 against Muguruza, the No. 9 seed, the champion at the 2016 French Open and Wimbledon 2017.