Petra Kvitova and Caronine Garcia reach the Cincinnati women’s final
Madison Keys was defeated by Petra Kvitova 6-7 (6) 6-4 6-3 to go to the Western & Southern Open final. In her previous 10 tournament appearances in Cincinnati, the 32-year-old Kvitova had never gotten past the semifinals. Czech will compete in her 40th career final against Caroline Garcia of France, the first qualifier to advance to the Cincinnati final.
Petra Kvitova and Caronine Garcia reach the Cincinnati women’s final
Even at my age, having this experience is fantastic, Kvitova remarked with a smile on Saturday.
” Throughout my career, I’ve had a tonne of finals, but never here. Since this is the first time in Cincinnati, everything feels different. Kvitova had to preserve a match point against last year’s finalist, Jil Teichmann, otherwise she could not have survived the first round. In the third round, she too needed three sets to defeat Ons Jabeur, who was rated sixth.
When you are virtually out of the picture but are still present and participating in the (final), it’s like getting a second opportunity, according to Kvitova.
Keys, the Cincinnati 2019 champion, defeated three grand slam champions this week but was unable to upset Kvitova.
Garcia, who is 28 years old, defeated sixth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 4-6 6-1 to win her seventh straight match.
The match was interrupted twice by rain for a total of four hours. Garcia won the opening set, but Sabalenka forced a third set after a nearly two and a half-hour delay.
Garcia had a 3-1 lead in the third when the second rain delay occurred. But as soon as play began again, she dispatched of Belarusian with ease, winning three consecutive games to become the first qualifier to advance to the finals of a WTA 1000 competition.
It has been a lengthy journey (qualifiers). One match at a time is the rule. Try to learn from each game so you can get better during the competition. In their previous eight encounters, Kvitova had prevailed five times, including two victories in a row in Miami and Madrid.
Garcia praised her as a tremendous champion. When playing against a player like this, you must play quicker and move more effectively. For me, competing with Petra is a huge task.. On the men’s side, there was a surprising finalist as well.
