Final joy for comeback queen Kvitova

MELBOURNE - Two years ago Petra Kvitova missed the Australian Open, just weeks after her racket-holding left hand was stabbed by an intruder at her home in the Czech Republic.

On Saturday, back at her best during what she calls her "second career", Kvitova will play for the championship at Melbourne Park.

Taking control after the court's retractable roof was closed as the temperature soared toward 38 degrees Celsius (100 F) on Thursday, the No 7-seeded Kvitova surged to a 7-6 (2), 6-0 semifinal victory over 35th-ranked American Danielle Collins.

"It means everything," Kvitova said of reaching her first major final since the December 2016 knife attack that led to hours of surgery on her hand.

Kvitova stretched her winning streak to 11 matches and has a chance to rise to No 1 in the WTA rankings if she can collect her first Australian Open title to go alongside the Wimbledon crowns she earned in 2011 and 2014.

Kvitova's opponent in the final will be reigning US Open champion Naomi Osaka, who defeated 2016 US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in Thursday's other semifinal.

Osaka had never made it past the fourth round at any of the first 10 Grand Slam tournaments of her career. Now, still just 21, she's suddenly on the verge of a second consecutive major championship.

On Wednesday, Pliskova saved four match points and came back from 5-1 down in the third set to stun Serena Williams in their quarterfinal.

Against Collins, a two-time NCAA champion at the University of Virginia who was 0-5 at majors until last week, Kvitova was more aggressive, mixing big lefty forehands and well-timed moves to the net.

But the key to the outcome might very well have been what happened at 4-4 after 35 minutes of action. That's when the decision finally was made to close the 15,000-seat stadium's cover, drawing cheers of approval from broiling spectators.

Kvitova probably wanted to applaud, too.

"I was happier than the fans that the roof closed," she said afterward. "I like to play indoors. It helped me a little bit."

She's made clear over the years she is not keen on playing in stifling heat.

Not too many players truly are, but someone like Collins, a 25-year-old from Florida, might be more used to that sort of thing.

The match was suspended for about five minutes and when play resumed, it went from being completely even to tilted in Kvitova's favor as she dominated the tiebreaker and the second set.

Associated Press