Kvitova ends Radwanska hopes, faces Stosur in semifinals

ISTANBUL, Oct 28 (AFP): Petra Kvitova stayed on course for her biggest title since winning Wimbledon when she overcame Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6 (74), 6-3 to score her third win at the WTA Championships on Friday. The Czech's success carries her unbeaten momentum into the semi-finals and denied the Pole, who needed just one set to reach the semi-finals as well, by a frustratingly narrow margin. Radwanska was within two points of achieving her goal at 5-2 and deuce in the first set, but Kvitova consistently found her flat-hitting best to pull back the deficit, looking a formidable attacking force as she did so. "I just found the rhythm when I really needed it," she said. Kvitova's win also lifted her -- temporarily at least -- above Maria Sharapova into the world number two ranking. Whether she holds on to that until the end of the season will also depend on the further progress of Victoria Azarenka who is also in the semi-finals. Vera Zvonareva, who missed three match points against Radwanska on Thursday, qualified for the semi-finals instead of the Polish player and will face Azarenka in Saturday's semi-finals. The other semi-final will see Kvitova take on Australia's Samantha Stosur. Both Radwanska and Zvonareva scored one win and three sets each but the Russian had a slightly higher games won percentage. Radwanska missed her best chance in the moments after she had advanced to 5-1 in the first set, with the advantage of a double break. But then she played her first indifferent game of the match, losing her serve to love, and once Kvitova was allowed back into it she was a different, far more dangerous player.