Tennis Announcer. Andy Taylor. Qatar Total Open 2018 / Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography
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Tennis Announcer Andy Taylor recaps Petra Kvitova’s Quarterfinal victory
[16] Petra Kvitova -21- (CZE) def [9] Julia Goerges -10- (GER) 64 21 (ret)
Make it 11-in-row for the inspiring Petra Kvitova. Since falling to Andrea Petkovic in the 1st-Round of the Australian Open, she won the title in St. Petersburg, scored a pair of Fed Cup victories over the weekend, and won four-straight to reach Doha’s Semifinals.
The wins weren’t easy, either. Petra beat Wild Card Cagla Buyukakcay in Round-1, then Agnieszka Radwanska and World #3 Elina Svitolina, before besting a hobbled World #10 Julia Goerges tonight. She’s enjoyed the toughest draw of all THREE Semifinalists (Simona Halep withdrew from the tournament after her Quarterfinal victory over Cici Bellis earlier today).
Goerges retires three games into set-2
Julia Goerges upset Petra Kvitova in their first career meeting eight years ago in the Linz Round of 16. Since then, they’ve played three, hard-fought, deciding-set matches in Fed Cup, Stuttgart, and two-weeks-ago in St. Petersburg. Kvitova emerged the victor in all three. After the Semifinal win over Goerges in St. Petersburg’s Semifinals, Petra went on to win her 21st title.
Tonight, Julia suffered through pain in her left hip – an injury she picked up during practice on Saturday. Painkillers got her past Lucie Safarova, Barbora Strycova and Mihaela Buzarnescu, but they weren’t enough to maintain against Kvitova’s confident ground strokes. She played well, even with the injury, but after earning her second hold of set-2, the pinching pain in her hip started making her nervous. Rather than aggravate the injury further, she threw-in the towel.
No word yet on Julia’s upcoming plans. She’ll head back to Germany to treat the hip and hopes to be better by the Premier Mandatory swing in the States. Meanwhile Petra Kvitova keeps the win-streak alive.
Up Next: Caroline Wozniacki
Well, with two consecutive top-10 victories, what’s to say Petra can’t take-down the World #1? After all, the head-to-head stats are in Kvitova’s favor. Caroline and Petra have played 12-times over the years, Kvitova has won seven of those matches – including their last three: the 2015 New Haven Semifinals, the 2nd-Round of the Summer Games in Rio, and last October in the China Open’s Round of 16.
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Petra Kvitova
Yesterday, she earned her 22nd career top-5 win, defeating World #3 Elina Svitolina to reach the Doha Quarterfinals for the 4th time. A 2-time Wimbledon Champion, she just won her 21st career WTA Singles title in St. Petersburg; and over the weekend, won both of her Fed Cup singles rubbers, lifting her country back into the World Group Semifnals for the 10th consecutive year. Now a 5-time Fed Cup Champion – Remarkably, in her inspiring return to the sport last year after a career-threatening injury, she won the title in Birmingham in just her second event back on tour. She’s an Olympic Bronze Medalist, has been ranked as high as World #2, and has qualified for WTA Finals 5-times, winning the year-end championship in her 2011 debut. From the Czech Republic – Please welcome, Petra Kvitova
Julia Goerges
This 29-year-old comes into this year’s Qatar Total Open with a career-high ranking of #10 in the World. She started the new year the same way she ended 2017 – by lifting trophies. Last October, she ended the season by winning back-to-back titles; first in Moscow, then at the year-end WTA Elite Trophy in China. In January, she won the title in Auckland, defeating World #3 Caroline Wozniacki in straight-sets, and carried a 15-match win-streak into the 2nd-Round of the Australian Open. Then 2-weeks-ago, she played through to the St. Petersburg Semifinals and cracked the WTA’s top-10 for the first time. Now a 12-time Tour-Level Finalist; she owns 5 WTA Singles titles in all, and is competing in her 5th Qatar Total Open. From Germany – Please welcome the #10 Player in the World, Julia Goerges
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Day-5. Updated Singles Draw
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Day-5. Updated Doubles Draw
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