Petra Kvitova overcomes Agnieszka Radwanska to progress at Connecticut Open

The two-time Wimbledon champion, who has won three times before in New Haven, prevailed 6-1 7-6 (7/3) to reach the second round.

While Kvitova put in a clinical performance in the first set, breaking her opponent twice, she faced a tougher challenge in the second.

The Czech clawed her way back from 3-1 down to force a narrow tie-break and advance after almost one-and-a-half hours on court.

The number three seed will now face Zarina Diyas, who defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-3.

Great Britain’s Johanna Konta made the last 16 by beating Laura Siegemund 6-2 7-5.

Konta had lost her two previous meetings to the German, but she raced to a 4-0 lead and closed out the first set with her fourth ace.

Siegemund, who spent 10 months out of the game after tearing a cruciate ligament in her knee in May 2017, fought back in the second set and a tie-break looked on the cards at 5-5.

But successive double faults from Siegemund allowed Konta to serve out and set up a last-16 meeting with Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro.

Meanwhile, Ekaterina Makarova dismissed number four seed Karolina Pliskova 6-1 6-3 in 58 minutes.

Up next for Makarova is 2017 Wimbledon semi-finalist Magdalena Rybarikova, who progressed after CoCo Vandeweghe retired injured in the third set.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich, of Belarus, overcame France’s Kristina Mladenovic 7-6 (8/6) 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 to book a last-16 date with number two seed Caroline Garcia, and Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska defeated American Danielle Collins 6-0 6-3 to face Julia Goerges.

Earlier, world number one Simona Halep announced her withdrawal from the tournament, citing an injury to her right Achilles.