Kvitova Strong In Birmingham, Buzarnescu Beats Svitolina For Second Time This Month
Petra Kvitova continued to prove that she’s the Wimbledon favorite. The 2-time Wimbledon champion rolled into the Mallorca semifinals beating Julia Goerges 6-1, 6-4.
“I think the score looks a little bit different compared to game. I think I found my game after the second half of the first set,” Kvitova said after the match.
“I think in the beginning of the match, we were both kind of finding the rhythm, the serve and the shots, especially on my serve. I think sometimes I was pretty lucky that she missed the return. When I broke her serve, it was a little bit kind of better for me, but was still trying to find good rhythm on the serve which I found afterwards.”
Kvitova has already won four titles on the year on the WTA and she won Birmingham last year. In the semifinals, she’ll meet Mihaela Buzarnescu who stunned No.2 seed Elina Svitolina in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
“I think she’s pretty confident right now. She’s in good form as we see. Until I met her in Prague final, I didn’t really know much about her. Obviously, I heard the name, saw the name doing well in the draw, but I never really paid attention until that time when we play three-setter.
“It was a really big fight. She’s a lefty. She’s playing with the confidence with nothing to lose. For me, she seems to be really relaxed every time she’s on the court, off the court. That’s probably her biggest weapon now.”
A year ago, the 30-year-old Buzarnescu was ranked outside the Top 200. Now she has two wins over Svitolina this month (French Open) and is on the brink of getting a Wimbledon seeding.
I’m so happy with my game today. I really managed to focus and play well,” said Buzarnescu. “It’s really been an amazing two weeks I’ve had, having played so little in the grass in my career.
“When I came last week in Nottingham, I just had only one day to practice. I only played last year two matches on grass and two years ago, one more time. I just try to adapt and get lower on my feet, use my serve, my left-handed serve, trying to go inside the court a little bit more.”
Wimbledon semifinalist Magdalena Rybarikova will take on Barbora Strycova in the other semifinal.
In Mallorca, the semifinals will feature Sam Stosur against Anastasija Sevastova, and Tatjana Maria meets young American Sofia Kenin.
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