LONDON (Reuters) – American Sloane Stephens won the battle of Grand Slam winners against twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova on Monday, ousting the Czech 10th seed from the All England Club with a 6-3 6-4 victory.
The 2017 U.S. Open champion came into the match on Centre Court with a 2-1 head-to-head lead against Kvitova, who lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish in 2011 and 2014, but all their previous meetings had been on hard courts.
Former world number three Stephens, who has slipped down the rankings to 73rd, arrived in London without playing a lead-up event on grass but showed no signs of rust as she broke Kvitova’s serve twice to take the opening set.
In the second set the 28-year-old picked up the crucial break in the seventh game and converted her first match point with her 11th winner to set up a clash with either fellow American lucky loser Kristie Ahn or Britain’s Heather Watson.
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Ed Osmond)