Petra Kvitova and Donna Vekic go for the title!
Who will replace last year's winner Ons Jabeur as Berlin's tennis queen? We will find out on Sunday at 3:30 pm. Then Petra Kvitova and Donna Vekic will face each other in the Steffi-Graf Stadium at the LTTC "Rot-Weiß" e. V.
This promises grass court tennis at its best! The Czech Kvitova (WTA rank nine) has won Wimbledon twice and is one of the best grass court tennis players of all time. Vekic (Croatia/WTA rank 23) has presented herself in splendid form in Berlin so far and had defeated the still reigning Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.
Vekic has generally impressed throughout the tournament week with consistently spirited performances. Now, in her fourth final at a grass tournament, she is going for her second grass title after her success in Nottingham in 2017. In the semifinals against the favored Greek Maria Sakkari (WTA rank 8, seeded sixth), she had prevailed 6:4 and 7:6 and was happy afterwards: "I'm tired and proud. I didn't expect to reach the final here." It's also about her second title win of the season - after her success in Monterrey.
But will Petra Kvitova let that happen?
Of the five duels against Vekic so far, Kvitova has won four. She has also already won the tournament this year (in Miami). In the semifinals, she had little trouble with Ekaterina Alexandrova (WTA rank 22) and won 6:3 and 6:4. Alexandrova had entered the semifinals without a fight. Her quarterfinal opponent Veronika Kudermetova (WTA rank 13) had to withdraw at short notice due to a hip injury.
Nevertheless, Kvitova looked fresher and more alert. The 33-year-old presented herself in captivating form on "Super Saturday" with quarterfinals and semifinals. "I'm happy that I managed both matches so well," said Kvitova, who looked directly at the clash with Vekic: "She plays aggressively from the baseline and has a good serve."
In 2022, Kvitova won her last of five titles on grass in Eastbourne. Will she now put together a six-pack in Berlin?
As a result of the completely rainy Friday, the quarterfinals of the world-class tournament, which is endowed with 850,000 US dollars, were played on Saturday before the two semifinal duels. The Greek tennis powerhouse Maria Sakkari secured her sixth semi-final appearance in the 2023 tournament by defeating Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova (WTA rank 53) 7:6 and 6:1.
Especially in the first set, the match was absolutely gripping and high-class. There was a great deal of enthusiasm in the packed stands of the Steffi Graf Stadium. And regular spectators speculated that they had seen the best set of the entire tournament up to that point. Both opponents were on an equal footing. But in the tie-break, Vondrousova missed four set points. Sakkari, on the other hand, made the most of her first. After that, set 2 was just a formality for the Greek: 6:1.
Meanwhile, Sakkari's opponent in the semifinals, Donna Vekic, beat Elina Avanesyan (WTA rank 81) 6:2 and 7:6.
The tenth duel between world champion Caroline Garcia (WTA rank 4, seeded third) and Kvitova was also a thriller. She claimed her sixth win over Garcia, this time with 6:4 and 7:6.
Garcia, meanwhile, had to console herself with at least reaching the doubles final alongside Luisa Stefani (Brazil). The duo defeated Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) and Ellen Perez(Australia) 6-4, 6-4. In the doubles final, Garcia/Stefani will now face the Czech doubles team of Katerina Siniakova/Marketa Vondrousova (after their 6-4, 6-4 win over Desirae Krawczyk/Demi Schuurs) on Sunday from 1 p.m. onwards.