ADELAIDE - World number eight Daria Kasatkina stumbled to close out the match but progressed to the semi-finals of the Adelaide International 2 with a 6-3 7-6(3) win over Petra Kvitova on Thursday. Twice Wimbledon champion Kvitova was at her most erratic, spraying 42 unforced errors over the court, but still managed to save two match points and hold for 6-6 in the second set at the Australian Open warm-up. “There was a hurricane in sight after losing the game after being just one point away from the win,” Kasatkina admitted. “With Petra, the score doesn’t matter, you just have to be ready for everything. I’m really happy that I was able to keep my focus in the tiebreaker.” The hurricane never arrived and Kasatkina sealed the victory in the tiebreak to move on to a last-four clash against Spain’s Paula Badosa, who later beat Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6(5) 7-5 in her quarterfinal. Kasatkina said she was looking to maintain her consistency after finishing 2022 well and making a decent start to the new season. Later on Thursday, Swiss Olympic champion Belinda Bencic survived a secondset scare to beat France’s fourth-seeded Caroline Garcia 6-2 3-6 6-4. Bencic will next face familiar foe Veronika Kudermetova, who saved five match points in a battling win over American Danielle Collins 4-6 7-6(5) 6-1. Sofia Kenin came from behind to beat Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina 4-6 6-3 6-0. Kenin will play Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the semi-finals after the Italian saved two match points on her way to a 5-7 7-6(8) 6-4 win over American sixth seed Bernarda Pera.
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