angelique-kerber-loss
BAD HOMBURG, Germany (AP) — Angelique Kerber upset top-seeded Petra Kvitova as she won two three-set matches in a day to reach the final of the Bad Homburg Open on Friday.
Seeded fourth, Kerber will bid to win her first title since Wimbledon in 2018 after she beat Kvitova 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3). The German last played a final in 2019.
“It’s unbelievable. To play in front of your home crowd, it’s something really special,” Kerber said. “Playing in front of them, they gave me the last few percent to really win this tight match against Petra.”
Kvitova had problems with her serve at key moments. She handed Kerber the second set with back-to-back double faults and double-faulted again when serving for the match at 6-5 in the decider.
Earlier, Kerber beat Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in one of three quarterfinals rescheduled for Friday after rain washed out the entire Thursday schedule.
Kerber will face another Czech player, Katerina Siniakova, in the final after Siniakova beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
Sorribes Tormo was fresh after progressing from the quarterfinals by walkover when Victoria Azarenka withdrew, but Siniakova had to come through a quarterfinal against Laura Siegemund 7-5, 6-4 in the morning.
Siniakova is a former top-ranked doubles player searching for her first tour singles title in nearly four years. She is 2-3 in career finals and has never before reached a final on grass.
Kerber has won four of five career meetings with Siniakova, including their only grass-court match, in Birmingham in 2015.
Kerber is seeded 25th for Wimbledon and will play Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic in the first round next week.
Siniakova has been drawn against 27th-seeded British player Johanna Konta.