Kvitova powers her way into Qatar Total Open final

Doha: Caroline Wozniacki might be the new world No and the Australian Open champion, but the semifinal of the Qatar Total Open was an extravagant exhibition of power hitting from Petra Kvitova.

The 27-year-old hit 50 winners against her opponent’s 14 and also showed her steely resolve as she came back from a set and an early break down to win 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 after two hours and 35 minutes of slugfest.

The world No 21, who is surely getting back into her full rhythm after suffering a horrific injury to her left hand by a knife-wielding burglar in December 2016, is on a roll winning 11 consecutive matches, and Wozniacki could not help becoming the 12th victim even though it looked highly unlikely after the first set.

Even in that erratic set, which Kvitova lost 3-6, it was the 16th seed who played the lead role, going for her shots too early and too often, while Wozniacki did not have to do much except counter punch on odd occasions.

But Kvitova hit her way out of that phase and won the second set in tiebreak despite being broken again in the first game. The elegant leftie broke Wozniacki in the sixth game to make it 3-3 and even though top seed broke again in the ninth game to serve for the match twice at 5-4 and 6-5, Kvitova held on, sticking to her guns.

She had continued to make mistakes – 59 unforced errors in total – allowing Wozniacki a window of opportunity every now and then, but she also had the shots to shut it firmly on the Dane’s face when it mattered.

“Obviously she's a powerful player,” said Wozniacki. “She has a difficult game to play against when she's on, but as well when she isn't, because you don't get any rhythm and you know that eventually she's going to start hitting those balls in and you need to be ready for it, so it's a very tricky mental game for me when I'm out there playing against her.”

The third set too was a cliff-hanger, with both players holding on to their serves until the ninth game when Kvitova broke Wozniacki, only to be broken right back.

Kvitova broke again for a 6-5 lead and held her serve for a sweet victory.

It was Kvitova’s fourth straight victory against Wozniacki and she now looks the favourite in the final, where Garbine Muguruza, who got a walkover after Simona Halep withdrew after her quarterfinal victory, awaits.