Osaka, Kvitova move into Stuttgart semis

World No.1 Naomi Osaka came from behind in the final set to beat Croatian Donna Vekic 6-3 4-6 7-6(4) and move into the Tennis Grand Prix semifinals in Stuttgart.

Osaka comfortably won the opening set but was tested by Vekic, who pushed her to the limit in the second and third. The Japanese player made 45 unforced errors as she struggled to swap hard courts for clay.

Osaka was visibly frustrated and trailed 5-1 in the final set but refused to yield and found her rhythm to break Vekic twice and prevent her serving for the match.

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In the tiebreaker, a confident Osaka upped her baseline game and had two early mini breaks before claiming the match in two hours and 18 minutes.

“I told myself I didn’t want to have any regrets here,” she said.

It's the @PorscheTennis Grand Prix semifinal for @Naomi_Osaka_ !

She claims the match over Vekic, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4).#????? pic.twitter.com/LMyBs4V4uF

— WTA (@WTA) April 26, 2019

“I was stressed out when I went down 1-5 … but this (comeback) was pretty good because I don’t play really well on clay.”

Osaka will now face Anett Kontaveit who progressed after former world number one Victoria Azarenka was forced to retire in the third set of their quarterfinal trailing 5-7 7-5 3-0.

Azarenka had just come off a Fed Cup semifinal in Australia and had eliminated defending champion Karolina Pliskova.

World No.3 Petra Kvitova came back from a set down to beat Anastasija Sevastova 2-6 6-2 6-3 and move into the last four.

Sevastova had a dream start, breaking Kvitova twice to take a 3-0 lead as the Czech struggled with her first serve.

However Kvitova recovered in the second set and she broke the Latvian’s serve when she up 3-2, winning 10 straight points to take a 5-2 lead. Sevastova looked shaken and was broken again to
give Kvitova the second set.

Kvitova took command in the final set and broke a visibly upset Sevastova to take a 3-1 lead before easing into the semis.

“In the first set I missed almost everything. I was pretty slow and she just couldn’t miss,” Kvitova said.

“In the second set it was very important for me to stay on my serve and the chance to break her came.”

Kvitova, who lost the Australian Open final against Osaka in January, now runs into Dutch sixth seed Kiki Bertens, who silenced the German crowd with a 6-3 6-4 victory over two-time champion Angelique Kerber.

The Wimbledon champion, playing again after a bout of flu, was unable to avoid a second straight and third overall defeat against Bertens in their fifth meeting.

One break per set, the first for 5-3 thanks to a Kerber double fault and the second for 3-2, was enough for St Petersburg champion Bertens to advance into her third semifinal of the year, clinching victory with her fifth ace.