Djokovic, Bertens make Cincinnati finals

Semi Final Day in Cincinnati for the Western & Southern Open.

First match would feature two WTA players yet to reach a final of this tournament.

WTA Premier 5:

• Petra Kvitová (8), having lost to Kiki Bertens last week in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, faced up to her again in the first semi final in Cincinnati.  Bertens won the toss and elected to receive.

After a couple of errors Kvitová served an ace, and a forehand winner sealed the game and the lead 1-0.

Bertens saved two break points and levelled at 1-1, two aces matching a pair of double faults.  Kvitová quickly held for 2-1.

Bertens broke serve first, but Kvitová struck back with a backhand winner following a Dutch double fault. 

At 3-3 and 0-30, Kvitová found two winners which won her the game and gave her a 4-3 advantage.

Bertens, with two errors, was down 0-30, and a sizzling return backhand winner from Kvitová presented the eighth seed with three break points.  Two were saved, but not the third, and now Petra would serve for the set at 5-3.  

After losing the first point Kvitová delivered two winning forehands, and on the first set point Bertens pushed a backhand wide

Kvitová a set to the good 6-3, having won the last four games.

As in set one, Bertens achieved the first break, following a love game on her own serve, to lead 2-0.

At 3-1, a lucky net cord helped Kvitová to break points, one of which was saved via a Czech error, the second through a Dutch winning forehand.

Another break point, thanks to Kvitová making amazing ground to a Bertens volley, then using brilliant hand skills to manufacture a forehand winner.

The break came, but Bertens immediately replied with another break, sealing it with a return winner for 4-2.  That was 2 service breaks in succession, and the next three games would also fall to the receiver, leaving Kvitová serving at 4-5 to stay in the set.

A Czech shot wide and a double fault left Petra in trouble at 0-30.  Kiki forced another mistake for three set points - just the one required and the match was tied at 3-6 6-4

Kvitová won a paltry 31% of points on her own serve in the second set. 20 unforced errors was also damning.

It was a procession for Bertens in the final set, holding to love in the opening game, then breaking the Czech serve for the fourth time in a row.

2-0 became 5-2 as the pair actually decided holding serve regularly may be a good idea.

However, it still meant Kvitová had to hold serve to remain in the tournament.

She couldn’t, and Kiki Bertens won 3-6 6-4 6-2, to advance to the Western & Southern Open final.

Kiki faced no break points in the final set, winning every point on her first serve.

Her ranking moves back to 15, her existing career high, and if she lifts the trophy she will be the world number 13.

ATP Masters 1000:

• Novak Djokovic (10) played a terrific three set match against Marin Cilic (7).  Set one offered up just three break points, one of those to Djokovic - he converted and won a 6-4 lead.

Set two belonged to Cilic who opened up a 3-0 lead, following a service break in the second game.  He made a near certainty of things after Djokovic double faulted on break point in the sixth game to linger at 1-5.

Although the Serb retrieved one of his dropped serves, Cilic held his nerve to serve it out 6-3 and the semi final was going the distance.

The decider looked better for Djokovic as he won a healthy percentage of points on his first serve.  The vital service break arrived in the fourth game and Djokovic was ahead 3-1 with serve in hand.

Another twist in a match full of them - Cilic broke the seemingly impenetrable Djokovic delivery to bring games back on serve 2-3.

An exchange of service holds carried the score to 4-3 Djokovic, although Cilic had shaky moments in the sixth game.

Djokovic exploited the Croatian’s next serve, and two break points emerged.  A double fault saw one vanish, and deuce came much to the relief of Marin.  Safety didn’t last long as Novak was granted a third chance, one which was used to maximum purpose.

Not famous for easily serving out matches, Djokovic cleaned up proceedings quickly, to book a place in the Western & Southern Open final.  He won a memorable semi final 6-4 3-6 6-3

In a rare career statistic, Djokovic has a 0-5 record in finals here in Cincinnati - a win this year would bring an end to that disappointing run but of greater significance complete a Career Golden Masters.  He would be the only player in the Open Era to win at least once at every Masters 1000 tournament.