WTA Stuttgart: Laura Siegemund shocks Agnieszka Radwanska; to meet Kerber in final
Qualifier Laura Siegemund continued her fairytale run at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix as she upset the top seed and World No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 6-2 to set up a historic all-German final with second seed Angelique Kerber in Stuttgart on Saturday.
This was the seventh consecutive victory for the Stuttgart native, who is amazingly yet to drop a set all week. One of the victims of her spectacular run was the fourth seed Simona Halep, who managed just three games against Siegemund.
On Saturday, it was no different. Serving at a 90% off her first serve, the 28-year-old came out firing against the in-form Radwanska. The World No. 71 looked every bit determined and totally fearless despite playing against a player who has won a title and has reached four other semi-finals this season.
In contrast, this was the very first WTA semi-final of Siegemund’s career but she played like a champion, climbing her way back into the contest after being 1-3 down in the first set.
Her swift movement, countless net forays and delicate touches absolutely flummoxed the Pole, who lost four games in a row and conceded the opening set 4-6.
Much to the delight of the home crowd, Siegemund’s rampage continued in the second set too as she quickly grabbed a break of serve. Radwanska failed to find any answer to the qualifier’s array of powerful groundstrokes punctuated by drop shots and the German broke her twice more for the victory in 1 hour 23 minutes.
This was her third top 10 win of the week, having defeated No. 8 Roberta Vinci in the quarters, besides the above-mentioned Halep.
Kerber overcomes Kvitova in three sets
In the day’s first semi-final, defending champion and No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber prevailed over two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
In this all-lefty encounter, the reigning Australian Open champion Kerber had a slight advantage, having beaten her Czech rival in their most recent showdown at the WTA Finals last October. She started impressively while Kvitova’s game fell apart in the initial stages of the match.
After Kerber had surged ahead 4-1 courtesy of a double break, Kvitova clawed her way back and got back one of the breaks. Kerber still managed to close out the set 6-4.
The second set was pretty much even until the tenth game during which Kerber finally caved in to the immense pressure of the Kvitova returns and the match was one set apiece.
In the third set, the second seed once again started with some inspiring tennis that saw her quickly going a break up. Kvitova made one last push and broke back for 2-2.
But that was the last time the fifth seed could win a game as the German reeled off four straight games to continue the defence of her title.