Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams rematch set at China Open

Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams will meet in the third round of the China Open in a reprise of their dramatic, three-set encounter at Wimbledon.

The third-seeded Czech defeated Peng Shuai of China 6-4, 6-2 beneath the roof on center court on a cold, rainy Wednesday in Beijing. Williams advanced on Tuesday with a win over France's Caroline Garcia.

In June, Kvitova was two points from defeat in a third-round match with Williams, but came back to prevail 5-7, 7-6 (2), 7-5 and ride that momentum all the way to her second Wimbledon title.

"Every match (I have) played with Venus was a really great fight until the end," Kvitova said. "It's the third round in the tournament. It's very early to meet each other again, same as Wimbledon."

Kvitova leads their head-to-head series 4-1, but each match has gone three sets. Both players are on a roll, too, with Kvitova coming off a title at the Wuhan Open last week that qualified her for the WTA Finals in Singapore, and Williams reaching two finals in Canada this summer.

"I feel well on the court," Kvitova said. "My confidence is a little bit higher than after the US Open."

The rain wiped out play on the outer courts, leaving only a handful of matches scheduled for center court.

Former US Open champion Samantha Stosur upset No. 6-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 7-6 (9).

Wozniacki, who is having a resurgent season and had won 25 of her last 31 matches, wasted five set points and double-faulted three times in the second-set tiebreaker, including on match point.

Also scheduled was French Open champion Maria Sharapova against Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, and on the men's side, No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic meeting Vasek Pospisil of Canada.