PARIS, France - No.7 seed Petra Kvitova had to fight her way back from the brink in the opening set against Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez, winning in straight sets to reach the fourth round of Roland Garros. 

 Kvitova has yet to drop a set in Paris as she claimed her 90th career main draw victory on clay with a 7-5, 6-3 win against 18-year-old Fernandez.

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“I'm so glad that I was still there even fighting in the first set, back on the track, and I didn't really know that I gonna turn it around,” Kvitova said in her post match-press conference. “But I was just trying to, you know, kind of came back to the set, to my game, to find a way.

“It was great I was still able to win the first set. I'm really glad for me that I was still there mentally.”

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The youngest player remaining in the draw, Fernandez was contesting her first Grand Slam third round match - but she showed no sign of nerves as she took the court at Suzanne Lenglen. She made a dream start as she broke Kvitova’s tricky lefty serve three times in a row to build up a 5-1 lead.  

Fernandez stayed aggressive and bossed the rallies as she redirected Kvitova’s pace to great success. The two-time Grand Slam champion finally found her rhythm late in the set, and she raised her level to fight her way back in it as she employed her booming forehand to open the court and keep Fernandez on the run. 

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Kvitova wouldn’t allow Fernandez another game in the set as she broke the Canadian three times as she served out the set, saving two set points - including a marathon battle to bring them level at 5-5. She needed five set points of her and had two save two break chances to get the job done against the tenacious Fernandez, but completed the turnaround to take it 7-5.

The Czech player made it nine games in a row as she continued her romp with a double break to start the second set, 3-0. Fernandez never stopped fighting, grabbing one of the breaks back, but she never recovered the lead as Kvitova powered her way to victory, 7-5, 6-3.  

Kvitova will take on Zhang Shuai in the fourth round, after the Chinese player took down local wildcard Clara Burel in straight sets, 7-6(2), 7-5, earlier in the day to advance. 

“I'm really glad that I can play her. She's really one of the nicest person here. Always say hi, always smiling, everything. I really like her,” Kvitova said with a grin. “That's nice. I'm really happy that we can meet each other in the second week of the Grand Slams. That's perfect. 

“She really can play well. She's really aggressive player. I think this is how it suits her, this kind of Roland Garros. And, yeah, we have a similar style, so we know each other pretty well.

“I just need to take it like every point as I did today. It's not really about tactics when you play somebody who is really hitting hard. So I need to hit it hard, as well.”