Jelena Jankovic is hoping she can finally advance to her first final in Doha after the Serb booked her place in the last four with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory over a struggling Petra Kvitova.
Jankovic is through to her third semi-final of the Qatar Open, and also made the last four twice on the very same courts when the WTA Championships were held in Doha in 2008 and 2009.
“It would be nice to make the finals here for the first time,” Jankovic said after the win. “I have been a semi-finalist so many times. That would be a step forward.
“I feel pretty good with my game in this tournament. So far, so good. I have been playing tennis on a high level, especially today.”
After two tough three-set battles in the previous rounds against Venus Williams and Lucie Safarova, the third-seeded Kvitova appeared flat and out of sorts.
The Czech former Wimbledon champion was unable to hold serve throughout the first set and only avoided a bagel by breaking serve in a moment of brief resolve early on.
Jankovic took the first set in 32 minutes, courtesy of a double fault from Kvitova, who hit 11 unforced errors and was landing only 50 per cent of her first serves in. Kvitova broke in the opening game of the second set and held serve for the first time in the match for a 2-0 lead.
But Jankovic managed to level the set at 3-3 on yet another error from Kvitova. The No5 seed broke again two games later with a deep backhand to give herself a chance to serve for the match.
But Kvitova wouldn’t go down without a fight, saving three match points with some huge hitting and aggressive net approaches. Jankovic however hit an ace to get a fourth opportunity and sealed the victory when Kvitova’s ball landed in the net.
“I think I kind of, in those last couple of points, I was waiting for her to do something instead of me finishing the match off,” said Jankovic. “That was a little mistake that I made, but then I focused on my serve, made that ace, and finally made up my mind I have to take control in my hands.”
Kvitova admitted that spending too much time on court in the previous rounds had taken its toll on her, especially coming back from illness. But the Czech says she’s ready to try and defend her title in Dubai next week.
“For sure I am going there (Dubai) more confident and more relaxed that I played some matches here,” said Kvitova. “If I lost here first round, I think it was going to be much more difficult for me.”
Earlier in the day, German No6 seed Angelique Kerber reached her first semi-final in Doha by brushing past Li Na’s conqueror, Petra Cetkovska 6-1, 6-0 in 50 minutes.
Kerber, who is yet to drop a set this week, attributes her good form in Doha to playing many matches so far this season. She kicked off her year making the quarters in Brisbane, the final in Sydney and the fourth round at the Australian Open. She followed that up with a quarter-final in Paris.
“I think the preparation was very good for me. I think I’m fit, I’m healthy, and I played a lot of matches in the last few weeks,” said Kerber after her win.
“I think that helps me to come in the match situation and to play good tennis in the important moments. I think everything comes together, that’s why I’m feeling good.”
She plays Jankovic today, in a rematch of their quarter-final in Brisbane last month which the Serb won in three sets. No7 seed Simona Halep crushed No4 seed Sara Errani 6-2, 6-0 in 52 minutes.
In the semi-finals, the Romanian will face No2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who breezed past Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, 6-2, 6-1 in 64 minutes.
