Petra powers past Caroline to Qatar final

DOHA: Petra Kvitova came from a set down to beat world number one Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday to record her 12th successive victory and advance to the Qatar Open final.

The Czech star won 3-6, 7-6 (73), 7-5. She played Spain’s Garbine Muguruza in a late final yesterday.

It was Petra’s second final this month, after already winning in St Petersburg.

Currently the World No 21, the final in Doha also underlines her push to get back to the elite of the women’s game following a horrific knife attack at her home 14 months ago.

She hit 50 winners, many from her powerful forehand, and her victory was the third she has recorded this week in Doha over a member of the world’s top 10.

Her winning streak is now the second longest of her career and she is only two victories short of equalling her record set seven years ago.

After losing the first set it looked like she was poised to become another victim of Caroline, the newly-crowned Australian Open champion, who has enjoyed a blistering start to the season.

But Petra forced a tie-break in the second set after her opponent served for the match then won six straight points to force a third set.

“In the tie-break when I was down 3-1, I was just really angry with myself so I just tried to hit some winners. That’s how that ended,” she said.

Garbine had a day’s rest on Saturday, receiving a bye in the semifinal after opponent Simona Halep withdrew because of injury.

Doha would have been Caroline’s third final this season, after Auckland and the Australian Open.

The Dane added however that she was pleased with the her week’s work which saw her become only the fourth woman in history to earn US$30 million (RM117 million) in prize money.