MELBOURNE (Reuters) - World number two Petra Kvitova survived a major scare against Carla Suarez Navarro at the Australia Open Thursday, hitting back from a break down in the third set to salvage a 6-2 2-6 6-4 win.

Wimbledon champion Kvitova sailed through the first set behind her big serve and booming forehand, and at that stage there was no sign of the troubles to come.

However, Suarez Navarro got the measure of the Czech's serve in the second set, pinning her back behind the baseline with deep backhands and angled cross-court forehand swipes.

The Spaniard took the second set by breaking Kvitova at 5-2 and jumped to a 2-0 lead to start the third.

But Kvitova suddenly found a spark with a forehand winner to avoid going 3-0 down before breaking Suarez Navarro's serve to start the comeback.

(Reporting by Peter Rutherford; Editing by Alastair Himmer)