Eastbourne: Petra Kvitova reached the final of Rothesay International after ending the career-best 12-match winning streak of Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6(5), 6-4 in the semifinal, here on Friday.
With her emphatic win, No. 14 seed Kvitova stopped No. 15 seed Haddad Maia’s breakthrough surge and made the Eastbourne final for the second time. Kvitova fell to Marion Bartoli in the 2011 Eastbourne final, just weeks before Kvitova won the first of her two Wimbledon titles.
The former World No. 2 from the Czech Republic Kvitova slammed 27 winners to Haddad Maia’s 12. For the second match in a row, Kvitova was not broken and faced only a single breakpoint.
Kvitova is now one victory away from her 29th career singles title. The Czech is 4-1 in grass-court finals, with two Birmingham titles accompanying her two Wimbledon trophies. Her only loss in a grass-court final was the aforementioned defeat by Bartoli in the 2011 Eastbourne final.
There were no breaks in the first set as the two powerful left-handers reached the tiebreak with ease. In the breaker, Kvitova’s blistering forehand made sure she was never behind, and she fired a winner from that side to convert her second set point after 66 minutes.
Kvitova started the second set off with a bang by breaking the Haddad Maia’s serve. That proved to be the decisive game, as it was the only loss of service by either player all day. The 32-year-old won three-quarters of her service points in the second set to take home the win.
In Saturday’s final, Kvitova will face defending champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. No.8 seed Ostapenko won her ninth straight Eastbourne match with a 6-2, 6-2 dismissal of No.12 seed Camila Giorgi of Italy.
Ostapenko’s 68-minute victory puts her into a second final of the year, having already claimed the title at Dubai in February. Ostapenko, who has not dropped a set this week, is aiming for her sixth career WTA singles title.
Ostapenko and Giorgi are both known for punishing groundstrokes, but things went entirely Ostapenko’s way on Friday as she improved to 2-1 against Giorgi. Ostapenko’s 22 winners doubled Giorgi’s 11, and the Latvian was never broken in the match.
