Earlier, Australian Open champion and No 2 seed Angelique Kerber outlasted rival and former No 2 Petra Kvitova to advance to a second straight final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, ousting the two-time Wimbledon victor, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
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However, Kvitova finally found a chink in Kerber’s impressive service display and took the final game against the serve to level things up.
Petkovic fell heavily at the start of the second set and never regained her game.
Buyukakcay is bidding to become the first Turkish player to win the WTA International tournament in her homeland, and the 26-year-old comfortably defeated Voegele 6-0 7-5.
“The great support from the public here was the key”, beamed Kerber after her win.
However, she met her match in the form of world No 3 and Australian Open champion Kerber, who took charge of the match after a slow start. They saved all three break points and broke their opponents twice to take the first set 6-2.
A high quality match throughout, Kvitova maintained an impressive differential in winners to unforced errors (47 to 33), but hit nine double faults by match’s end – almost doubling her total from her first three matches combined.
“It’s always hard to play against another German, who you know so well”, said Kerber, who played alongside Beck in Germany’s Fed Cup play-off win over Romania last weekend. The German qualifier showed little resistance as a pumped-up Kerber broke Siegemund again as back-to-back missed backhand volleys from Siegemund gave Kerber a 5-2 lead.
The 28-year-old said: “I’m really exhausted and I know I can play much better”.
“At the moment I am disappointed”, she said. Like after [a] few games at the beginning I just start to feel my rhythm.
In doubles, just when the top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis were looking to get back to their winning ways, their run was cut short in the final by the second-seeded French team of Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia, 6-2, 1-6, 6-10. “That’s why it’s much more special this year to win this tournament”. It’s her second Passing Shots award this year.
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Champion Angelique Kerber (pic) will meet Petra Kvitova in the Porsche Grand Prix semi-finals.
