THERE was no room for sentiment in Austin as British serving machine Jodie Burrage aced her way out of trouble in two-time Grand Slam winner Petra Kvitova return from maternity leave. Kvitova gave birth to son Petr and was playing her first match in 17 months, but despite a strong start, fell 3-6 6-4 6-4 to the world number 189.

Kvitova unsurprisingly received a wildcard into the ATP250 event, with the former world number two missing all of 2024 and dropping out of the Tour rankings. A 31-time title-winner, Kvitova looked like she had never left through the first set, hitting 11 winners and breaking three times. While she did commit five double faults to open the door for Burrage, Kvitova still went a set up.

However the tide began to turn as Burrage’s service game got going, she made less mistakes, and Kvitova started to tire. Over the last two sets, the Brit served 11 of her 14 aces, and hit 22 winners to 20 unforced errors. The Czech Grand Slam winner still broke even at 24 winners for 24 unforced errors, with her backhand reminding fans of what they had missed.

Kvitova hit 15 winners off her preferred side, while also finishing with 11 off her forehand. Burrage equally passed the test on her backhand with 12 winners and only seven unforced errors, though her forehand (three winners, 18 unforced errors) was a different story.

The turning point came when Kvitova was 30-0 at 4-4 in the deciding third set. Burrage seized her opportunity winning eight of the next nine points to break the Czech then hold comfortably and serve out the match in two hours and 29 minutes.

“She’s an absolute champion, I knew I was going to have to fight out here,” Burrage said post-match. “Got off to a pretty shaky start but she came out like she hadn’t been away for 17 months. “She was slapping everything and it was going in, so I knew then who I was up against.

“There was no doubt in my mind that she’s the same player that she was when she was on tour 17 months ago. Very happy with how I composed myself, got myself back in that match, and fought until the end.”

AROUND THE COURTS

ATX Open

Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva shocked third seed Peyton Stearns in straight sets 6-2 6-3 to march into the Round of 32, with second seed Diana Shnaider also on the ropes early in her match. A sense of disbelief filled the stadium when fellow Russian Tatiana Prozorova bagelled the world number 13 in just 25 minutes. Fortunately Shnaider managed to click into gear after that, taking out the match 0-6 6-2 7-5.

It was a mixed bag for the local hopes with top seed Jessica Pegula and compatriot Caroline Dolehide both advancing to the Round of 16, while Bernarda Pera joined Stearns in exiting the tournament. Qualifiers Cristina Bucsa and Ena Shibahara both advanced to the next stage, as did Tatjana Maria, Greet Minnen and Sorana Cirstea.

Merida Open

Turkish wildcard Zeynep Sonmez produced the upset of the tournament in Mexico, with a 7-5 6-2 upset of out-of-sorts Maria Sakkari in an hour and 43 minutes. Sakkari moved to 3-9 for the year in maindraw matches. In a battle of two former Top 20 players, Petra Martic handed Sloane Stephens her 10th consecutive loss with a 6-2 6-3 triumph, while Aussie qualifier Daria Saville shocked sixth seed Marta Kostyuk in a tight one, 6-4 7-6.

In other results, Slovakian Rebecca Sramkova smashed out-of-form Kiwi Lulu Sun 6-3 6-1, while British qualifier Francesca Jones and Polish player Magda Linette were the other winners on day two and reached the Round of 16.