By Tennis Now | Thursday, October 5, 2017
It was billed as a battle of power vs. speed.
The power player made it no contest.
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Petra Kvitova crushed Caroline Wozniacki, 6-1, 6-4, charging into the Beijing quarterfinals.
Kvitova more than tripled Wozniacki’s winner out put—38 to 11—in a 73-minute conquest.
The two-time Wimbledon winner scored her seventh win over the former world No. 1 in 12 meetings.
The victory vaults Kvitova into a quarterfinal clash with sometime Czech Fed Cup teammate Barbora Strycova.
The 29th-ranked Strycova exploited seven double faults from Daria Gavrilova in a 6-0, 6-4, sweep.
Kvitova has won seven of eight meetings with her compatriot, including reeling off the last eight sets they’ve played.
The 27-year-old Czech is playing for her first semifinal since she defeated Ashleigh Barty to win Birmingham in just her second tournament after returning from a horrific stabbing during an off-season home invasion.
It was a day of mixed results for Czech players.
Sorana Cirstea surprised fourth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova, 6-1, 7-5.
Cirstea dropped the first game then reeled off six straight games to take the opening set. Pliskova twice served for the second set, but double fault issues plagued the 2016 US Open finalist as Cirstea stormed back to seal the 83-minute victory.
World No. 44 Cirstea advanced to her second quarterfinal in her last three tournaments. She will face her doubles partner, ninth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko ,for a final four spot.
The reigning French Open champion held a 3-0 lead over Peng Shuai when the Chinese No. 1 retired with a right knee injury after only 15 minutes.
"Of course this is not the way I wanted to win today," Ostapenko said. "I hope she feels better and she can recover.
"For me I think it was kind of an advantage because I’ve been playing a lot of matches in the last couple of weeks. It gives me a little bit more rest to get ready for tomorrow."
Elina Svitolina subdued Elena Vesnina, 6-2, 7-5, advancing to her eighth quarterfinal of the season.
The third-ranked Svitolina, who has won five titles this season, takes on Caroline Garcia for a semifinal spot.
In an all-French clash, Garcia grounded Alize Cornet, 6-2, 6-1. The Wuhan champion extended her winning streak to eight matches.
Photo credit: China Open