Kvitova stunned by qualifier
MELBOURNE: Juan Martin del Potro continued his encouraging buildup to the Australian Open by reaching the semifinals of the Sydney International on Thursday, but women’s contender Petra Kvitova was stunned by a Bulgarian qualifier in the last four.
World number five Del Potro was dragged into a scrap by Radek Stepanek and needed to recover from a mid-match meltdown before fending off the Czech veteran 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a clash with 2008 champion Dmitry Tursunov.
Mixing patchy phases with occasional flashes of brilliance, the 2009 US Open champion appeared close to losing his cool at times and joked that only his shortage of racquets had prevented him from slamming one into the hardcourt in frustration.
Del Potro has stuck to his older-generation Wilson racquets religiously but has only two left, and is reluctant to change to a new one before the year’s first grand slam.
Fiery Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis famously destroyed four of his racquets during a loss against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2012 Australian Open, and Del Potro said he had been similarly tempted when struggling against Stepanek.
“Yeah, I was close, but I can’t do that yet. When I get eight or ten racquets, I will smash all of them,” he quipped to reporters.
Defending champion Bernard Tomic strolled past Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-3 and will meet another Ukrainian in Sergiy Stakhovsky in the other semifinal.
Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi progressed to the semis by defeating Trat Huey and Dominic Inglot 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 10-3 on Wednesday.
Leander Paes’ start to the season continued on a poor note as he and partner Stepanek lost 6-4, 6-4 to Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Despite crashing out of the semifinals to 107th ranked Tsvetana Pironkova, second seed and former Wimbledon champion Kvitova was relaxed about her 6-4, 6-3 loss three days ahead of the start at Melbourne Park.
“I think the matches I played were great, and I have three under my belt,” the Czech world number six said.
“So I think it’s really good to have this record coming to Australian Open.”
Pironkova, a one-time Wimbledon semifinalist, is the first qualifier to reach the Sydney final and will battle German Angelique Kerber, who swatted aside Madison Keys in straight sets, for the title.
In Melbourne, world number seven Tomas Berdych advanced to Saturday’s final in the invitational Kooyong Classic with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Japan’s top-ranked Kei Nishikori. Berdych will play the winner of an all-French semifinal on Friday between Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon.
Thirteen proved an unlucky seeding in Melbourne for a second year in a row as Spaniard Nicolas Almagro was forced to pull out of the year’s first grand slam with a shoulder injury.
Last year’s 13th seed John Isner also withdrew three days before the tournament due to a troublesome knee.
Meanwhile, in Auckland, top seed David Ferrer continued on his quest for another title in New Zealand with a tough 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory over compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in their quarterfinal.
In other matches, Lu Yen-Hsun overcame Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 while third seed John Isner endured a three tiebreak match against fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, eventually prevailing 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).
Roberto Bautista beat Jack Sock 6-1, 6-3 in a more comfortable match.
In a women’s tournament in Hobart, top seed and home favourite Sam Stosur beat Bojana Jovanovski 6-3, 6-3 to reach the semis.
Second seed Kirsten Flipkens lost her last-eight match to Garbine Muguruza Blanco 6-4, 6-3, however, while Estrella Cabeza Candela came from a set down to get the better of Monica Niculescu 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Klara Zakopalova booked her place in the last-four with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Alison Riske. (Agencies