Petkovic into China Open final
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail
Xinhua, October 9, 2011
![Andrea Petkovic of Germany celebrates after the semifinal of women's singles against Monica Niculescu of Romania at China Open Tennis Tournament in Beijing, China, Oct. 8, 2011. Petkovic won 2-0(6-2, 6-0). [Yang Shiyao/Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20111009/000cf1a48b7f0ffb343d01.jpg "Andrea Petkovic of Germany celebrates after the semifinal of women's singles against Monica Niculescu of Romania at China Open Tennis Tournament in Beijing, China, Oct. 8, 2011. Petkovic won 2-0(6-2, 6-0). [Yang Shiyao/Xinhua]") |
| Andrea Petkovic of Germany celebrates after the semifinal of women's singles against Monica Niculescu of Romania at China Open Tennis Tournament in Beijing, China, Oct. 8, 2011. Petkovic won 2-0(6-2, 6-0). [Yang Shiyao/Xinhua] |
German ninth seed Andrea Petkovic overwhelmed Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinal of the China Open WTA event in Beijing on Saturday.
The world 57th ranked Niculescu has been enjoyed a wonderful week in Beijing, as the qualifier stunned local favorite French Open winner Li Na in front a crowd of jubilant fans in the opening round and upset world No. 24 Maria Kilirenko of Russia 3-6,6-3, 6-4 before she surged into the semifinal clash against Petkovic.
However, the Romanian's solid form just seemed to disappear on Saturday as Petkovic only needed one hour to seal the victory.
The match appeared to be less one-sided in the first set, when the 24-year-old Niculescu managed to break Petkovic, who was also 24, for two times. But the German played much more aggressively and answered the gritty opponent with four breaks, claiming the opening set 6-2.
The German enjoyed a conformable control in the second set and met no further resistance from the other side of the net, clinching the win with a love set.
"The good thing is I never underestimated her, because I knew that I lost to her the last two matches. So I went into the match as if I am playing the No. 1 in the world," said Petkovic on the post match news conference.
The 11th ranked Petkovic will face the winner between 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the final of the 4.5 million U.S. dollars WTA events.
