EASTBOURNE, England: Petra Kvitova will play fellow former Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko in the final of the Wimbledon warmup event at Eastbourne.
Kvitova is a two-time Wimbledon winner looking to emulate her All England Club triumphs in 2011 and 2014.
The 32-year-old Czech may not be at her peak these days, but she remains a force on grass, as she showed by battling to a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 victory over the obdurate Beatriz Haddad Maia in Friday’s semifinals.
World No. 31 Kvitova ended the lengthy winning streak of Brazilian Haddad Maia to return to the final at Devonshire Park for the first time since finishing runner-up 11 years ago.
In a tussle between big-hitting left-handers, Kvitova avenged last week’s defeat to Haddad Maia at Birmingham.
Haddad Maia, whose memorable grass-court season included titles at Nottingham and Birmingham, was beaten for the first time in 13 matches.
Kvitova, who lost to Marion Bartoli in the 2011 Eastbourne final, takes on former French Open champion Ostapenko in Saturday’s final.
The Latvian is the defending Eastbourne champion and she remains on course for another title on the south-coast lawns after crushing Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-3 earlier on Friday.
Eighth seed Ostapenko, the 2017 winner at Roland Garros, is also through to the Eastbourne doubles final with her Ukrainian partner Lyudmyla Kichenok.
They will face Aleksandra Krunic and Magda Linette as Ostapenko chases two titles in one week.
In the men’s singles final, 2019 Eastbourne winner Taylor Fritz faces France-born American Maxime Cressy.
American world No. 14 Fritz defeated reigning champion Alex De Minaur 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.
Cressy, the world No. 60, beat Jack Draper 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (2/7), 6-3 to make it three wins over British players in this year’s tournament.
