Kvitova, Bouchard power into Wuhan semis
Will face Svitolina, Wozniacki respectively on Friday
WUHAN:
World number three Petra Kvitova overcame French Caroline Garcia to qualify for the semi-finals of the $2.4 million WTA Wuhan Open on Thursday, while Canadian teen Eugenie Bouchard also made it into the last four.
Garcia had previously performed heroics at the inaugural tournament, beating Venus Williams and world number six Agnieszka Radwanska to make it to the quarter finals, but the Wimbledon champion proved to be too much for the 20-year-old.
Garcia took only one game in the opening five, before Kvitova went on to win the set 6-3.
The pair matched each other early on in the second set before Kvitova broke the serve in the seventh game and closed in on victory by taking the set 6-4.
“I knew Garcia would be tough as she beat Venus and Radwanska 7-6 in the third round,” said Kvitova. “You always have to be prepared for a fight.
"I knew that can serve well and play very aggressively from the baseline, so I knew that I had to be ready for her.”
The Czech also felt that the conditions suited her style of play.
"It was quite humid and hot today [Thursday], and I was really sweating a lot, but the court feels faster, which is something that probably suits my game a lot. I'm serving well, so that's helpful too,” she concluded.
The Czech will now face Elina Svitolina in Friday's semi-final after the Ukrainian beat German seventh seed Angelique Kerber in their quarter-final match 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
Bouchard tames Cornet
It was heartbreak for French Alize Cornet, who went out after putting up a late resistance against sixth seed Bouchard.
The pair traded breaks early on before Bouchard claimed the first set 6-3. Cornet appeared to argue with the umpire in the first game of the second set after a video showed that she had served an ace, but it was ruled out.
She lost her serve two games later and Bouchard looked to be cruising with the scores at 5-2.
The world number 22 staged a revival which saw her claw her way back to 5-5, but the Canadian took the remaining games in quick succession.
"I feel like I could have closed much better," said Bouchard.
"There is no excuse for that. That's something I really need to work on is closing out better in my matches. It's happened a few times this week."
Bouchard will go on to play Caroline Wozniacki in the semis, after the world number seven overcame Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
The Wuhan Open in the central province of Hubei features the world's top 20 women players and will reach its climax on Saturday.
World number three Petra Kvitova overcame French Caroline Garcia to qualify for the semi-finals of the $2.4 million WTA Wuhan Open on Thursday, while Canadian teen Eugenie Bouchard also made it into the last four.
Garcia had previously performed heroics at the inaugural tournament, beating Venus Williams and world number six Agnieszka Radwanska to make it to the quarter finals, but the Wimbledon champion proved to be too much for the 20-year-old.
Garcia took only one game in the opening five, before Kvitova went on to win the set 6-3.
The pair matched each other early on in the second set before Kvitova broke the serve in the seventh game and closed in on victory by taking the set 6-4.
“I knew Garcia would be tough as she beat Venus and Radwanska 7-6 in the third round,” said Kvitova. “You always have to be prepared for a fight.
"I knew that can serve well and play very aggressively from the baseline, so I knew that I had to be ready for her.”
The Czech also felt that the conditions suited her style of play.
"It was quite humid and hot today [Thursday], and I was really sweating a lot, but the court feels faster, which is something that probably suits my game a lot. I'm serving well, so that's helpful too,” she concluded.
The Czech will now face Elina Svitolina in Friday's semi-final after the Ukrainian beat German seventh seed Angelique Kerber in their quarter-final match 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
Bouchard tames Cornet
It was heartbreak for French Alize Cornet, who went out after putting up a late resistance against sixth seed Bouchard.
The pair traded breaks early on before Bouchard claimed the first set 6-3. Cornet appeared to argue with the umpire in the first game of the second set after a video showed that she had served an ace, but it was ruled out.
She lost her serve two games later and Bouchard looked to be cruising with the scores at 5-2.
The world number 22 staged a revival which saw her claw her way back to 5-5, but the Canadian took the remaining games in quick succession.
"I feel like I could have closed much better," said Bouchard.
"There is no excuse for that. That's something I really need to work on is closing out better in my matches. It's happened a few times this week."
Bouchard will go on to play Caroline Wozniacki in the semis, after the world number seven overcame Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
The Wuhan Open in the central province of Hubei features the world's top 20 women players and will reach its climax on Saturday.