Petra Kvitova enters final at China Open

Petra Kvitova

Beijing, Oct 4 (IANS)

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic fought back after a mid-match onslaught from Australian Sam Stosur to reach the China Open final Saturday.

After Kvitova put away the 44-minute opening set 6-3, Stosur began painting the lines on serve, dropping just four points in six service games and then sneaking out a break in the 12th game to take the second set, 7-5, reports Xinhua.

The Australian hit 13 winners to just nine unforced errors in that second set.

But the No. 3-seeded Kvitova bounced back in a big way in the third set, reeling off five games in a row from 1-2 to close the match out, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, hitting a big ace on her first match point.

Kvitova is a perfect 8-0 since the US Open, going 5-0 to win the Wuhan title and 3-0 so far here in Beijing.

The Czech is just one win away from returning to her career-high of No.2 in the world. If she wins the title here in Beijing, she will move from No.3 to No.2, passing WTA rising star Simona Halep.