Petra Kvitova digs deep to overcome Karin Knapp

Petra Kvitova bounced back from the jaws of defeat against Karin Knapp to keep her Italian Open campaign on track.

The world number four progressed through to the third round of the competition with a 6-3 4-6 7-6(1) triumph in Rome.

Following a straightforward opening set for Kvitova, which saw her break Knapp a couple of times, things turned progressively tougher as her Italian opponent grew into the match.

Knapp raced ahead in the second and did not look back to ensure that a decider would be required and, having built up a 5-2 lead, it was very much hers to lose at that stage.

Lose it she did, being edged out in five of the next six games as the contest went to a tie-break, which Kvitova got the better of to set up a meeting against either Magdalena Rybarikova or Jelena Jankovic in the next round.