Whatever threat Kaia Kanepi might have posed to Maria Sharapova on a good day, she didn't bring it to her quarterfinal match against the 2nd seed. Sharapova's return of serve was excellent, and she did some good work at the net, too. Kanepi pulled herself together a bit in the second set, and was more tactically efficient, but she couldn't do enough to hurt Sharapova, who posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
It wasn't as easy (surprise, surprise!) for Petra Kvitova. Kvitova lost the first set to a smooth-moving and aggressive Yaroslava Shvedova. In fact, qualifier Shvedova went up 3-0 quickly in that set because Kvitova simply could not keep the ball inside the court. In the second set, however, the Czech star displayed the very best version of herself, freely hitting winners and serving really well--but only after she was broken at the start of the set.
With her Safina-like penchant for taking herself right to the edge of the precipice, Kvitova made her own life difficult again in the third set. After going up 2-0, she found herself down 2-4, and then--just when it appeared that Shvedova was about to pull off a very unexpected feat--Kvitova won four straight games in highly efficient style. Her 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory sets her up for a semifinal meeting with Sharapova, whom she allowed to sneak in and beat her in the final moments of their Australian Open semifinal match. Sharapova also beat Kvitova in the Stuttgart semifinals.
Prior to today, Kvitova had never gotten beyond the round of 16 at the French Open.
Remember that Petra was sick in Australia and injured in Stuttgart.
ReplyDelete