WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Defending champion Petra Kvitova recovered from a shaky start to beat Akgul Amanmuradova 6-4, 6-4 in her opening match at Wimbledon.
The fourth-seeded Czech looked nervous early on and was broken in her first service game on Centre Court and then saved two break points when trailing 3-0 in the first set. She found her rhythm after that and won seven straight games to take a 2-0 lead in the second set.
After a 30-minute rain delay, Kvitova served out the match to love.
Kvitova won her first Grand Slam title by beating Maria Sharapova in last year’s final. The 96th-ranked Amanmuradova has never reached the second round in five Wimbledon appearances.
