Petra Kvitova
sealed her first French Open semi-final berth in eight years on Wednesday with
a 6-3, 6-3 win over Germany’s Laura Siegemund as she described Roland Garros as
her “lucky place”.

A two-time Wimbledon
champion, seventh seed Kvitova will face Australian Open winner Sofia
Kenin for a place in Saturday’s final. The American knocked out compatriot Danielle
Collins 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 on Wednesday.  

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“It means a
lot to be back in the semi-finals,” Kvitkiva was quoted as saying by AFP. “After
my last match, I was very emotional to be in the quarter-finals. Now I am in
the semis. I never imagined this would happen after everything that has
happened.”

“This is my
lucky place,” the 30-year-old said.

In her previous
appearance in the semi-final in 2012, Kvitkova was beaten by eventual champion Maria
Sharapova. In 2017, Kvitkova made her comeback in Paris after spending six
months recovering from a terrifying knife attack at her home in December 2016.

The assault
required a four-hour operation and left her with damaged ligaments in her
playing hands, with doctors warning her that her career may be finished.

In Wednesday’s
quarter-final against world number 66 Siegemund, who was playing in her first
Grand Slam last-eight appearance, Kvitkova fired 22 winners and six aces. One
break of serve in the first set was enough for the 30-year-old, which was followed
by five more breaks in the second set.  

Kvitova, who
is yet to drop a set in the tournament, sealed her victory as Siegemund served
a third double fault of the match.

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“I am happy
to be here and to be able to compete with the best especially in these
conditions — roof open, roof closed, sunshine, windy,” Siegemund said.

She leaves after
a tournament to remember having been accused of hitting the ball on a double
bounce in her first-round win over Kristina Mladenovic.

She then
munched on a plate of food courtside during her fourth-round victory against
Paula Badosa. On Wednesday, she signed off with a time violation for taking too
long between points.

“I was
on the line, I was bouncing, I was starting my movement, and it was about once,
and literally she (the umpire) was saying that it was one second too slow. I
mean, that’s a joke,” said Siegemund.

Fourth seed
Kenin moved two wins from a second Grand Slam title of 2020 when she defeated
Collins on the back of 38 winners, out-hitting her 26-year-old rival who had
arrived in the last eight having unleashed a tournament total of 140.

It was
Kenin’s fourth three-set win at the tournament.

“It’s
really special to be in the semi-finals for the first time. I’m super
happy,” said Kenin.

Collins,
who had knocked out 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza in the third round, required
a medical timeout off-court on an abdominal injury at 4-0 down in the decider,
but Kenin’s resolve never wavered.

Former
college tennis champion Collins endured a roller-coaster of an afternoon with
one US network claiming she ordered her boyfriend, Aussie Rules player Tom
Couch to move to another seat while winning points were accompanied by
high-pitched screams of “come on”.

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“I had
my boyfriend move to a different spot because I was distracted by something in
front of him. I just wanted to be able to look at him from a different
location,” explained Collins.

“Sometimes
too when I was serving the ball, I could see my team in the background, and I
didn’t like that. Actually, during the Muguruza match they sat on the side of
the court, and then I really didn’t like when they were sitting behind the
court when I was playing Ons Jabeur (in the last 16).”

Kenin,
diplomatically, insisted she did not notice the noise from the other side of
the net.

“I try
not to focus on what’s going on around me. I just try to focus on myself and
just block everything out,” she said.