A determined Kiki Bertens rallied past Czech Petra Kvitova 3-6 6-4 6-2 to move into the Cincinnati Masters final on Saturday.
The Dutch player blasted 10 aces against world number six Kvitova to claim her seventh consecutive win over a top-10 opponent and second victory over Kvitova in nine days.
She also beat the Czech in last week’s Rogers Cup third round.
Bertens will face the winner of Saturday’s second semi-final between world number one Simona Halep and Aryna Sabalenka for the title on Sunday.
“It was a really tough one, but I’m so happy to be in the finals here,” Bertens said in an on-court interview.
“We’ve put a lot of work in to get more fit, and play more aggressive on the hard courts, and it’s working out.”
Bertens, world number 17, lost the last five games of the first set but took the second in which there were seven breaks of serve.
The Dutch number one did not face a break point in the final set and dropped just three points on serve.
Kvitova had 48 unforced errors in the match, including eight double faults, and lost serve seven times in her third marathon three-setter in the Cincinnati sun.(Reuters/NAN)
