Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova pummelled Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Dubai Championships on Friday, while Sara Errani defeated doubles partner Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-3 in an all-Italian showdown.
Kvitova, 22, has yet to drop a set in Dubai, the world No. 8 returning to form after failing to win more than two matches at any other tournament this year.
Kvitova was comfortable in the opening set, being taken to deuce only once and saving the two break points she faced.
Photo: EPA
Wozniacki found it harder going, losing the opening game as Kvitova despatched venomous ground strokes from the baseline that the stooping Dane failed to control.
This allowed the Czech to put away a succession of volleyed winners as she raced to the net.
“She was trying to ... put the balls back — I am the person who is playing aggressively and going for the winners,” Kvitova told reporters. “I can play quite fast from the forehand, it’s my big stroke.”
Receiving at 5-3 ahead, Kvitova left her opponent flat-footed with the power and depth of her return and the Dane could not find enough elevation on her backhand reply.
That set up Kvitova — seeking a 10th tour singles title — to take the first set, slugging a forehand winner into the corner as Wozniacki moved the other way.
The Dane ended 2010 and 2011 as the top-ranked women’s player, but had a tough time last year, slipping down the rankings as she won just two singles titles and failed to make much impression at the Grand Slams.
The 2009 US Open finalist seems more determined this year and in earlier rounds in Dubai she spoke of enjoying her tennis more.
She dropped five games over the first two rounds and came from a set down to beat Marion Bartoli in the quarter-finals.
However, Kvitova proved too much for her, the Czech winning a third straight match between the pair.
Wozniacki, now world No.10, came out fighting in the second set, breaking for the first time for a 3-2 lead after her fierce return dragged the Czech wide so she could land a winner on the opposite flank.
However, Kvitova broke immediately and then for a fourth time to seal the match as the Dane scuffed a backhand volley wide.
The other semi-final was a clash between the world’s top-ranked doubles pairing, with Errani and Vinci having won three of the past four Grand Slams.
They also practice together and that made for a strange encounter, with neither player celebrating winning key points.
“It was very tough playing against a friend, sometimes it happens and you just have to try to play normally,” Errani said in a courtside interview.
The world No. 7 now has a 5-2 winning record against Vinci, coming out on top in their last five meetings including in last year’s US Open quarter-finals.
Both players are petite by tennis standards and the match was more about finesse than power as they hugged the baseline.
When Vinci did try to inject more power into her shots, she was often found wanting.
The players traded breaks at the start of the second set and overall eight of the first 11 games went against serve.
Errani, again playing with a heavily strapped left thigh, went 4-1 up in the second and she eventually saw out the match.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB