体坛英语新闻：Kvitova, Bouchard into Wuhan Open final

WUHAN, China, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Petra Kvitova and Engenie Bouchard powered into the final of the Wuhan Open on Friday, setting up a rematch of Wimbledon Open final, in which Kvitova romped past Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 in 50 minutes.

Third seeded Kivota, two-time Wimbledon champion, is now just one win away from the WTA Finals Singapore. If she can repeat her victory over Bouchard on Saturday, she will secure her berth at the WTA Finals.

Kvitova had lost her only previous meeting against Elina Svitolina at Cincinnati in the summertime, but there would be no repeat of that this time at the Wuhan Open semifinal Friday as the Czech stormed through the first set and, after letting an early break go in the second, closed the match in straights of 6-3, 7-5.

Bouchard, who reached the semifinals at Australia and French Open, even had an easier campaign against the eigth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki as the sixth-seeded Canadian knocked out the Danish in 6-2, 6-3.

"She came back at the beginning of the second set and tried to play more aggressively than she did before," Kvitova said. "After I went up a break I thought it would be enough to just keep holding my serve, but then she broke me, and she was playing very well. She was even leading. But I believed I could break her again and I did it. I'm lucky I was able to do that and that I won in the end.

"We really fought hard out there. I think we played some great tennis out there today."

If Kvitova wins the Premier-level title on Saturday, she will become the fourth player to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore, following Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep.

Kvitova will be playing her 18th WTA final on Saturday and is 13-4 in her first 17 WTA finals.

The Czech has been talking about how much she's enjoying her first trip to Wuhan.

"It's not often that I go somewhere I don't know, and I didn't really know what I should expect coming here, but I'm really surprised how nice it is," Kvitova commented. "Everything is great. The courts here are just beautiful, and the hotel is really nice too. Everything is also really well organized.

"And so many people come to support us. It's beautiful to see them here."

She's also been asked to assess her season so far, going from No. 16 on the road to WTA Finals Singapore leaderboard. "From the beginning my season was really tough. If somebody told me at the Australian Open that I would win Wimbledon and still be fighting for Singapore, I'm not sure I would have believed them.

"But I've had a great second part of the season. It all started a little bit at the French Open, and from there I just kept improving. I think early on I was expecting too much of myself, and it was really difficult to take the loss in my first round in Australia, but I kept working hard and now I'm here."