Kiki Bertens eases into Madrid final at expense of Caroline Garcia, Kvitova beats Pliskova

Unseeded Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens continued her sparkling week, roaring into the Madrid Open final with an emphatic 6-2 6-2 victory over France's Caroline Garcia on Friday.

The world number 20 blasted her way past seventh seed Garcia in just 66 minutes, breaking serve four times and never surrendering a break point to move within sight of her second singles title of the year.

Bertens, 26, had taken some big scalps already this week in Madrid, defeating Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals on Thursday, the day after knocking out world number two and Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki.

Netherlands' Kiki Bertens reacts after beating France's Caroline Garcia during their WTA Madrid Open semi-final tennis match at the Caja Magica in Madrid on May 11, 2018.

Image credit: Getty Images

WTA Miami

Collins downs Garcia to set up Alexandrova semi-final

28/03/2024 at 09:22

"I'm really happy with the way I played. I think it was maybe not great tennis, what people want to see with a lot of winners, but Caroline is a great player," Bertens told a news conference.

"She likes when the ball comes from the hip so I was just trying to play as many different balls as I could. I think I did it pretty well."

"She played very well, she used the high ball very well," said Garcia, offering generous praise to Bertens.

"I couldn't do anything about it. I tried different things, but it didn't work. Of course, I'm frustrated. My performance today was not great. But she had a game plan and it worked well."

Bertens will face a tough examination on Saturday against Kvitova, who reached the Madrid final for a third time by beating Pliskova, conqueror of world number one Simona Halep on Thursday.

A key moment came in the eighth game of the first set when Kvitova landed an impressive forehand to force the game to deuce and prevent Pliskova taking a 5-3 lead.

The two-time Madrid champion eventually broke her compatriot to level the first set and edged the tiebreak as Pliskova double-faulted to hand her a two-point advantage which Kvitova pounced on.

Kvitova carried that momentum into the second set and closed the match out when Pliskova could only smash a backhand beyond the baseline.

WTA Miami

'Every loss weighs heavy' - Gauff rues 'tough' defeat to Garcia

26/03/2024 at 09:44

WTA Miami

Garcia shocks Gauff to reach Miami Open quarter-finals, Boulter knocked out

25/03/2024 at 22:23

WTA Miami

Garcia dumps Osaka out of Miami Open to set up last-16 tie against Gauff

25/03/2024 at 07:00