Vekic dethrones Kvitova in St Petersburg
Donna Vekic beat Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-1 in quarter-finals of St Petersburg indoor event.
SAINT PETERSBURG (AFP) - Defending champion Petra Kvitova crashed out of the St Petersburg indoor event with a straight sets quarter-finals loss to Donna Vekic on Friday.
Vekic of Croatia upset the two-time Wimbledon champion 6-4, 6-1 in one hour 23 minutes to level their head-to-head record at one all.
"At the beginning of this tournament I believed that it will be great to be here for the weekend," eight-seeded Vekic said.
"Now I m in the semi-final and I m really happy about that.
"Any of my opponents in the semis will be a good player and it will be definitely a tough match. Hopefully I will be able to win anyway."
Kvitova, who lost to Naomi Osaka in last weekend s Australian Open final, looked tired and rusty from the start, producing a catalogue of unforced errors to allow Vekic to gain a one-set lead after 42 minutes on court.
In the second Vekic, who is ranked 30th in the world, looked firmly in control, breaking Kvitova s serve on three more occasions to chalk up her biggest career win.
On Sunday, Kvitova s manager Miroslav Cernosek said she pulled out of the Czech team to face Romania in the Fed Cup on February 9-10, because she wanted to defend her titles in St Petersburg and in Doha in two weeks.
Vekic now faces Russian 34-year-old veteran wild card Vera Zvonareva, now ranked 97th in the semis.
Zvonareva beat third seed compatriot Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) as she looks to rediscover the form which took her to the 2010 Wimbledon and US Open finals.
Second seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands overpowered the local favourite Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 in one hour 31 minutes to gain revenge for the second-round defeat at this year s Australian Open.
"It s always tough to oppose Anastasia," Bertens said. "We ve played in Melbourne and she was the better one. So I m really happy to win today."
Bertens next plays fourth seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who advanced into the semis seeing off Russia s qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-4.
"I need to play aggressive tennis (against Sabalenka)," Bertens added. "It s gonna be a tough match but I m set to show my best tomorrow."
