Friday at the 2016 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix was all about the tournament’s quarterfinals and two unlikely success stories. One of them is Petra Kvitova, as the Czech Wimbledon champion is having a remarkable week in Southern Germany.
Following rather disappointing outings in Stuttgart during the past few years, Kvitova has suddenly found her footing on the unique surface, continuing her great run with a three-set victory over Garbine Muguruza.
While Kvitova is a somewhat unlikely semifinalist on indoor clay, an even more surprising name among the final four players is Germany’s Laura Siegemund.
The 28-year-old German had already enjoyed plenty of success early into this season and Stuttgart is a continuation of an amazing year for Siegemund so far. Starting all the way in the qualifying stage, Siegemund had battled her way past Halep to make Thursday’s quarterfinal against Roberta Vinci.
Much to the enjoyment of the crowd, Siegemund continued where she left off against Halep, stringing together a fierce performance against the Italian that would quickly see her take a comfortable lead. Even a slip on the courts baseline and a short resurgence from Vinci in the second set couldn’t stop Siegemund from winning her match in straight sets and the arena erupted into massive cheers.
Siegemund will face another enormous challenge in the next round, playing top seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliksova in the final match of the night. In the second semifinal, Kvitova will meet reigning Stuttgart champion Angelique Kerber, who had no problems beating Carla Suarez Navarro to punch her semifinal ticket.
