Twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova overcame an unruly fan and a first-set deficit to beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 7-5 6-4 at the Miami Open, reaching the hardcourt final for the first time on her 13th appearance.
After a routine opening, a supporter for Cirstea cheered loudly as Kvitova made an error and again in between her first and second serves in the sixth game, a violation of spectator etiquette that saw him reprimanded by an usher.
Visibly rattled, Kvitova ceded the break point to her opponent and needed to summon her veteran calm to turn things around.
“When I was down, I was just trying to put a return in and I played a good return,” she told the Tennis Channel. “One fan screaming against me…I know he supported Sorana but you know it wasn’t really nice and I got distracted.”
With the distraction behind her, Kvitova broke Cirstea in the ninth and 11th games and once again to open the second set, where she upped her level across the board.
Romanian Cirstea was knocked out, having been a break up in the opening set
She faces last year’s Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in Saturday’s final, after beating her in Adelaide in January. Rybakina, the 10th seed, is hoping to keep the good times rolling after winning last month at Indian Wells.
Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam to bar players from Russia and its ally Belarus, said on Friday it would allow them to compete as neutral athletes, reversing the ban it imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Kvitova, a Czech who won Wimbledon titles in 2011 and 2014, said players from Russia and Belarus should also be banned from the Paris Olympics next year.
“I always state that I’m against the war. I’m just more worried about the Ukrainian people and players,” Kvitova said.
“I appreciate that Wimbledon had a tough time last year not giving the points (after) Belarusians and Russians didn’t play.
“They should not be allowed in the Olympics either. I’m still a bit on the Ukrainian side of this.
“Not in the Olympics, for sure, because I feel the Games are because we don’t want a war in the world. That’s my concern. I’m really appreciating that Wimbledon didn’t take them last year.”
Sinner pulls off stunning Miami Open semi-final win over world No 1 Alcaraz
On the men’s side of things, Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner stunned world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2 in an epic Miami Open semi-final duel.
Sinner needed everything in his arsenal to beat the defending champion in a rematch of their Indian Wells semi-final and delivered with more than two dozen winners to set up a final meeting with Russian Daniil Medvedev.
Up a break in the first set, the 10th seed brought the crowd to its feet when he survived an extraordinary 25-shot rally in the seventh game, sending Alcaraz flailing to the ground with a sensational backhand winner, but handed Alcaraz a break point minutes later.
They traded breaks in the final two games of the set and Alcaraz closed the tie break with an ace. But the Spaniard could not hang onto the momentum and he ceded Sinner a break point with a wild shot out of bounds in the opening game of the second set.
Alcaraz broke Sinner on the third try in the fourth game but was hurt in the effort, landing hard on his left hand, and later needed treatment.
Italian Jannik Sinner secured a stunning 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2 win over Carlos Alcaraz to book a Miami Open final place
The incident took its toll as Sinner broke Alcaraz to love in the ninth game, ending the US Open champion’s 21-set unbeaten streak.
Alcaraz returned from a lengthy break in the locker room depleted and he suffered through leg cramps that left him shuffling around the court early in the third set.
Sinner converted on a break point chance in the opening game and Alcaraz was left wincing as he suffered another fall onto his left hand while diving for a serve in the sixth game.
Sinner converted on another break point in the penultimate game and thrust his fists to the air triumphantly after clinching it with a forehand winner.
World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz is out after defeat to Sinner
He will next face Medvedev, who survived a stern test from his friend and fellow Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6(5) 3-6 6-3 for a tour-leading 28th victory this season earlier on Friday.