LUXEMBOURG – Top seed Petra Kvitova overcame a slow start to defeat Varvara Lepchenko and take her place in the quarterfinals of the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open.

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The closing stretch of the 2016 season has seen Kvitova make a welcome return to form, and once into her stride against Lepchenko there was no stopping her, running out a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 winner in just under two hours.

Lepchenko held her own early on, breaking decisively in the penultimate game of the opening set. The expected Kvitova onslaught finally materialized at the start of the second set, and despite surviving a couple of fraught service games, Lepchenko was merely delaying the inevitable.

Once the Czech did finally hit the front, there was no looking back, winning 10 of the last 11 games to saunter across the finishing line.

A comeback win for @Petra_Kvitova over Lepchenko 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to advance to @Iwtp_lux QF. pic.twitter.com/oLzJCGbWmD

— WTA (@WTA) October 19, 2016

“I probably didn’t play as well as I would want in the first set. But she started very strong and didn’t give me time to do anything, so I was under pressure a little bit,” Kvitova said afterwards to the press.

“In the second set I had to change the game a little bit and when I made the first break in the sixth game I was feeling a little better, more confident and I was just trying to keep going and not have so many unforced errors.”

Elsewhere, an under the weather Caroline Wozniacki dug deep to see off Sabine Lisicki, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Wozniacki, the No.2 seed this week, was suffering from a gastrointestinal illness, but overcame a slow start and a late wobble to triumph.

“I felt nausea during my match. I just feel pretty tired probably from coming from Hong Kong. I played pretty well today but maybe my movement wasn’t quite there. I just hope I feel better for tomorrow,” Wozniacki said to wtatennis.com.

Also among the second-round winners were No.3 seed Kiki Bertens, who brushed aside Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 6-3, 6-1, while Andrea Petkovic upset No.4 seed Caroline Garcia, 6-1, 6-1.