Advertisement

Stosur beaten in China Open semis

Australia's Samantha Stosur is out of the China Open in Beijing, beaten by world No.3 Petra Kvitova 6-3 5-7 6-2 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Stosur reached the semis after a walkover against an injured Serena Williams and she pushed Kvitova, taking the second set as she broke serve in the final game.

The 2011 US Open winner and former world No.4 appeared to be capitalising on a lack of rhythm in her Czech opponents play after the game was halted because of rain, meaning the court had to be dried and the roof closed.

But the third seed fought back in the third set, saving three break points in the second game before breaking in the fifth and seventh to make her first final in Beijing.

She'll meet Maria Sharapova who overcame eight double-faults, including four as she served for the match, to defeat Ana Ivanovic 6-0 6-4.

In the men's draw, top-ranked Novak Djokovic reached his fifth China Open final and improved his spotless record at the tournament to 23-0 with a 6-3 6-4 win over Andy Murray.

It was Djokovic's third win over the Scot this year and came just weeks after the Serb knocked him out of the quarter-finals of the US Open.

Saturday's semi-final didn't quite reach the same level of quality - the two combined for 43 unforced errors and only 26 winners - but Djokovic proved the steadier player at the key moments and saved four of five break points he faced in the second set.

"It was a two-set victory today, but still it felt like I had to work hard to win the points," he said.

He'll play third-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the final. Berdych won 6-4 6-1 over Martin Klizan, the qualifier who upset Rafael Nadal in the quarters.

Overall, Djokovic is on a 24-match winning streak in China, having also won the Shanghai Masters in 2012 and 2013. He has not lost in China since being beaten by Roger Federer in the semi-finals in Shanghai in 2010.

On the women's side, Sharapova needed four match points - and a little luck - to close out her win over Ivanovic.

With Sharapova serving for the match at 5-4, the two played a nerve-wracking, 10-minute game featuring four double-faults and several wasted match and break points.

Ivanovic finally thought she got the break on her fourth chance when Sharapova's backhand went wide, but the Russian challenged the call and the ball was shown to have caught the line by a fraction. Sharapova hit an ace to set up her fourth match point and won it on an Ivanovic error.

"Definitely got tricky in the end," Sharapova said. "I didn't just give her a serve where she could attack because against me she's always played well when she has been behind because she's free and loose."

The third-seeded Kvitova will be going for her second title in as many weeks. She captured the inaugural Wuhan Open title last week, and will be going for her fourth of the season on Sunday in Beijing.

If she wins, she'll also leapfrog Simona Halep to move to No.2 in the rankings.

"I'm quite tired already. A lot of matches in Wuhan and here," she said. "I'm looking forward to go to Europe. So I'm glad the final match is the last one here, then I can go."