Pera staved off four break points in her first two service games, and maintained parity with her opponent through 3-3. Strycova, however, had held serve with minimal difficulty, and garnered two more chances on the American’s serve after a superb defensive lob forced an error from Pera. A forehand error finally gave Strycova a break at 4-3, on her sixth break point of the set.

Strycova eased through the remainder of the set from there, firing two aces en route to a hold for 5-3, then reaching triple set point in the next game, after Pera misfired on a forehand down the line. Pera saved two set points with aggressive play, but a deep service return by Strycova on the third forced a netted error from the American, giving the Czech the one-set advantage.

In the second set, though, the tables turned. Pera earned her first service break of the match, polishing a point off at net for a 2-1 lead, and used strong serving to consolidate for 3-1. The American fended off a break point before volleying her way to a hold for 4-2, and then earned a second break after back-to-back double faults to lead 5-2. Pera took the set in the next game.

Pera kept on rolling in the final set, using big returns to reach double break point in the opening game, at which point Strycova double faulted. Pera blasted an overhead to claim a second break and a 3-0 lead, and though the Czech got one break back for 3-1, Pera reeled off the final three games of the match to move into her fourth WTA quarterfinal of the season.

More to follow….