Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova moved into the semi-finals of the Connecticut Open with a 6-4, 6-1 win on Thursday over fellow Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
Kvitova went down by a service break in the third game of the match, but avoided the upset bug that has sent every other seeded player in the tournament packing.
Trailing 4-3, the second seed called her coach onto the court, and he told her to stop trying to win on every shot and be more patient.
Photo: AFP
“So I was trying to play a little bit longer rallies, just wait for the good point that I can really attack her, going forward for the final volleys, for example,” Kvitova said.
It worked.
She broke back to tie it at 4-4 and then broke Zahlavova Strycova again to take the set.
She cruised in the second, taking the final five games of the match.
Kvitova, who won in New Haven in 2012 and lost in the final last year to Simona Halep, said she is not treating this tournament as a glorified practice for next week’s US Open — something other big names have been known to do.
“I want to play my best tennis and have the great result I can,” she said. “Every match I step on the court, I want to win.”
Her semi-final was to be against Australia’s Samantha Stosur after the 2011 US Open champion beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
After struggling with Flipkens’ serve all match, Stosur broke her to go up 4-3 in the final set on a nice inside-out forehand and then broke her again in the final game of the match.
“The last couple of games, I just tried to return a little bit smarter with where I was trying to place it,” Stosur said. “Once I was able to hit a return to a better part of the court, then I felt like I was in control of the point more.”
On the other side of the draw, Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia ousted Alison Riske of the US in three sets, 7-5, 0-6, 6-4.
Rybarikova, who beat top seed Halep in the second round, broke Riske’s serve six times, but she failed to hold her own serve seven times and said she felt lucky to escape with the win.
“I was really fighting, trying to somehow make her play worse, to make her to make more mistakes than me,” Rybarikova said. “It kind of works.”
Riske, who was the last remaining American in the draw, said she made too many errors in the third set. Three double faults in one game put her down 4-2 and she was unable to fight back.
“Obviously, at this level that can’t happen,” Riske said. “That was a huge problem.”
Rybarikova was due to face hard-serving Italian Camila Giorgi in the semi-finals after Giorgi, who upset Caroline Wozniacki in the second round, defeated Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2.
Giorgi, who has climbed to No. 38 in the world rankings, double-faulted 19 times, but compensated with a strong return game, breaking Muguruza nine times.
“My type of game, it’s more secure when my serve goes in and it’s easier, but it’s not a problem... I mean, I have the return,” the Italian said.
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