Petra Kvitova is hoping to finally make a semi final at one of the Sunshine Double tournaments having lost all three quarter finals previously across Indian Wells and Dubai. Maria Sakkari is the latest woman standing in her way with last year’s losing finalist just two matches away from a potential rematch with Iga Swiatek.
Check out all of Kvitova’s Grand Slam titles.
Sakkari is hoping for her third semi final of the year, having already got to that stage in Linz and Doha.
The Greek has had to work in her matches this week, going the distance in all three of them and spending a combined seven hours on court. The latest came against Karolina Pliskova, with her 6-4 5-7 6-3 victory a far cry from the 6-1 6-2 thrashing she took by the Czech in Dubai just a few weeks ago.
Kvitova saved four match points in a stunning victory over Jessica Pegula, eventually taking it after an epic deciding set tiebreak 6-2 3-6 7-6(11). She hit winning shots on all four, including two of her trademark forehands that gave the third seed no chance. “I just tried to still be aggressive, but it not always was there for me. The emotions were of course very happy. And a little bit exhausted now.” she said after.
This would be the kind of court that Kvitova traditionally would hate, with the lack of speed leading to her spraying errors all over the place. That she was able to take out a very strong Jessica Pegula in the previous round suggests she may have things a bit more figured out. An in-form Kvitova still remains difficult to beat, even if her best tennis is becoming more and more uncommon as she heads into her mid 30s. Last year’s 6-3 6-0 loss will be a big concern for the Czech though but if she brings this weeks form she is more than capable of overpowering her opponent here.
Prediction – Petra Kvitova in three sets
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