Kvitova sinks Siniakova to reach Prague semifinals
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - No.2 seed Petra Kvitova continued her march through the draw at the J&T Banka Prague Open on Thursday, becoming the first player through to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No.8 seed Katerina Siniakova.
After seeing a 24-match winning streaks against fellow Czechs come to an end at the Volvo Car Open last month, Kvitova has been back to her winning ways in Prague.
The Czech No.2 has recorded two wins against compatrtiots in three matches this week to reach the semifinals in her tournament debut.
.@Petra_Kvitova nails her 21st winner of the day to grab the win!
Downs Siniakova, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the #PragueOpen semifinals! pic.twitter.com/MSZJrSpyzK— WTA (@WTA) May 3, 2018
Behind 21 winners and five breaks of serve, Kvitova largely cruised over the course of 70 mintes after falling behind by a break in the first game of the match.
A stretch of eight straight points put the two-time Wimbledon champion ahead from there, however, as the two countrywomen remained on serve until Kvitova secured a second break in the eighth game of the set.
The World No.10 wrapped up the opener with a flourish, as her second love hold of the set powered her to a one-set lead in just over a half hour.
.@Petra_Kvitova emerges ahead to take the opening set, 6-3!
She's a set from the semifinals in her #PragueOpen debut! pic.twitter.com/s1t4LZPgGW— WTA (@WTA) May 3, 2018
The second set proved more of the same for Kvitova, though this time she broke the World No.51 in the first game of the set and remained ahead from there.
The two-time Wimbledon champion added a second break to lead 5-2, and though she withstood some late resistance from her younger compatrtiot, wrapped up the victory on her second match point.
Kvitova will next face No.6 seed Zhang Shuai, who ended the run of Italian lucky loser Jasmine Paolini, 6-4, 6-3.