[guide.chat] Tennis
- From: "Carol O'Connor" <missbossyboots33@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "guide chat" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2012 08:28:20 +0100
Serena Williams beats Petra Kvitova in Wimbledon quarters.
Venue: All England Club, London
Date: 25 June - 8 July
Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC HD Channel, Red Button, BBC Radio 5
live, mobiles, tablet and the BBC Sport website. Men's and women's singles
finals in 3D on BBC HD Channel.
Serena Williams beat defending champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets to reach
the Wimbledon semi-finals.
While rain fell at SW19, the American sixth seed produced a series of punishing
winners to defeat the Czech 6-3 7-5 under the Centre Court roof.
The four-time champion will play Victoria Azarenka next after the second seed
beat Tamira Paszek 6-3 7-6 (7-4).
Image of Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Davenport BBC Sport
"Serena said yesterday that she needed to get so much better if she wanted to
win this tournament. That's exactly what she did in 24 hours. Kvitova hasn't
been near her best all year. But there's a positive sign for her from this
tournament, getting to the quarter-finals before losing to Serena, who's played
one of her best matches of the year."
Eighth seed Angelique Kerber was a 6-3 6-7 (7-9) 7-5 winner over Sabine Lisicki
in the all German clash.
Kerber will play third seed Agnieszka Radwanska , who beat 17th seed Maria
Kirilenko 7-5 4-6 7-5.
Williams told BBC Sport that she had the "time of her life" in what was her
first match under the roof.
"I had to step it up today because I was playing the defending champion, it was
tough," said the 30-year-old.
"It's exciting. Everyone thinks about lifting the trophy. It's something I've
thought about, but my main goal is to keep progressing.
"If I want to win the title, I have to step it up. There are a lot of people
vying for it. I'm happy just to be in the tournament."
Match stats.
Williams Kvitova
Fastest serve
First serves
Unforced errors
Break points
Net pts
Kvitova had not lost at Wimbledon since being beaten by Williams in the 2010
semi-finals, but was blasted off court by the 13-time Grand Slam champion, who
sent down 13 aces and had an 86% first-serve success rate.
Once Williams recovered from serving at 30-0 down in the opening game of the
match she barely looked back, sealing the break she needed to take the first
set in the sixth.
Kvitova improved in the second set, finding lines with regularity and forcing a
set point in the 10th game.
But after the fourth seed netted with a routine one-hander, Williams forced a
decisive break in the next game and served out for victory.
Azarenka broke her unseeded opponent at 4-3 before serving out the first set,
the Belarusian bullying her Austrian rival at times.
She served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set only to be broken on
both occasions, her serve having been rock-solid until then.
But the 21-year-old Paszek's commendable resolve was finally ground down in the
tie-breaker, Azarenka prevailing 7-4.
Lisicki, who knocked out Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, saved three match
points in the second set and served for the match at 5-3 in the third.
"It doesn't matter who you play out there. You need to play your best. I stuck
to my plan and I think I did a great job" Angelique Kerber
But Kerber, 24, bounced back to win the last four games, finally converting her
fifth match point when Lisicki sent a backhand wide.
Afterwards, Kerber said it was difficult playing against someone she has known
since they were children.
"We've known each other from a young age and it was mentally not easy,"
admitted Kerber after reaching the semi-finals at SW19 for the first time.
"It doesn't matter who you play out there. You need to play your best. I stuck
to my plan and I think I did a great job."
The match between Radwanska and Kirilenko started on Court One but was
suspended because of rain, with the deciding set going with serve at 4-4.
Initially it was announced the match would be finished on Wednesday but it was
unexpectedly switched to Centre Court and restarted at roughly 2130.
And Radwanska it was who felt the benefit of an extended break, breaking her
Russian opponent and wrapping up the match in barely 15 minutes.
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