Kvitova wins all-Czech showdown to reach second final

Friday, 4 July 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

LONDON (Reuters) - Former champion Petra Kvitova moved within one match of capturing a second Wimbledon title, ending the plucky resistance of Lucie Safarova 7-6(6) 6-1 in their all-Czech semi-final on Thursday.

Safarova, 27, had been given little chance against her 24-year-old friend, having lost all five of their previous meetings. But the 23rd seed pulled out all the stops as the big-hitting left-handers slugged it out from the baseline in the first set. After clinching the first set in a tiebreaker with an unstoppable forehand cross-court return, Kvitova stepped up a gear to extinguish Safarova’s hopes. Standing in the way of Kvitova’s second Wimbledon crown is the winner of the second semi-final between Romania’s Simona Halep, the third seed, and Canadian 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard, seeded 13th.