ST. PETERSBURG, Russia
Two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova has won at least one WTA title since 2011 and kept that streak alive at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, dispatching defending champion Kristina Mladenovic, 6-1, 6-2.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia
Petra Kvitova became the first wildcard to advance to the final of the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy on Saturday, taking out No.5 seed Julia Goerges in a thrilling three-set semifinal, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia
Kristina Mladenovic has turned around her singles struggles in impressive style at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, dispatching Daria Kasatkina, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to return to the championship match.
"There's a reason why Daria was in the semifinals," Mladenovic said after the match. "I was surprised to see her beat Wozniacki, but she's been playing really great tennis in general. She's very talented, but especially the surface and environment - she loves the home crowd - made it a very good match. It was high intensity, high quality. There were some ups and downs with the scoreboard, but I tried to stick to my game: be aggressive, keep fighting."
Daria Kasatkina knocked off World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki to reach the semifinals, 7-6(2), 6-3.
The No.8 seed scored her second career win over a reigning World No.1, having beaten Angelique Kerber when the German held the top spot last season in Sydney.
Kasatkina played a dominant tiebreak in the opener after failing to serve out the first set at 6-5, and won three of the last four games of the match after Wozniacki got the second set back on serve.
"She just won the Australian Open, and since I beat her, it means I was playing really well," Kasatkina said on-court after the match. "I was just trying to play point-by-point and focus on the rally."
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia
Defending champion and No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic of France kept her magic going at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Friday, defeating Czech Katerina Siniakova, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals.
“I thought it was a very good match," Mladenovic said on court, after the match. "I think she’s a very good mover, and I think the first set was such high quality on the serve, from both of us. It was very difficult to have opportunities to break each other."
In her first match as a Grand Slam champion, Caroline Wozniacki dropped just one game against Russian youngster Anastasia Potapova at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
St. Petersburg, RUSSIA
Vera Zvonareva claimed her first victory against a Top 30 player since 2015 as Kiki Bertens retired after the first set of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Zvonareva won four games in success to storm back from 2-4 down to claim the opener 6-4, and Bertens, who was visibly struggling through illness, felt she could go on no longer thereafter.
“It’s not how I wanted to win,” the WTA World No.197 admitted. “I want to wish her a speedy recovery.”
