Petra Kvitova has booked her place in the semi-finals of the WTA Championships in Istanbul courtesy of a [3]6-7 6-2 6-3 win over Angelique Kerber this afternoon.
The match was a straight shootout for a semi-final place as both players had won one and drawn one of their matches in the Red Group, and it was Kvitova who earned the first break to take a 3-1 lead in the opening set.
Kerber hit back three games later with a break of her own, however, and the rest of the set went with serve to force a tie-breaker that the German went on to win 7-3.
The number five seed hit back in the second set and broke Kerber in consecutive games to clinch a fairly comfortable 6-2 win and level things up.
Both players struggled to hold on to their service games at the start of the third set, with a Kerber break sandwiched between two from Kvitova to give the Czech the advantage.
Kvitova then clinched the victory with a break in the final game of the match as she set up a semi-final clash with either Li Na or Serena Williams.
Barney Corkhill
