After a pair of straight-sets victories in the Wimbledon semifinals, 2011 champion Petra Kvitova will face first-time major finalist Eugenie Bouchard in Saturday's title match.

Kvitova Returns to Final

Two aggressive left-handed hitters from the Czech Republic faced off in the first women's semifinal on Thursday. It was 6th-seeded Petra Kvitova advancing to the Wimbledon final past Lucie Safarova 7-6 6-1. In the first set, the two big servers traded blows while finding a break of service just once each. The well-played set fittingly advanced to a tiebreak, where Kvitova has historically been successful against her opponent. In five attempts, the 2011 champion had never lost a tiebreak to the 23rd seed.

In what was a microcosm of the first set, both players struck sharply angled, aggressive shots. But it was Kvitova who came up with a timely winner off her forehand and took the tiebreak at 8-6. Her unblemished tiebreak record against Safarova continued. As often is this case, a player on the short side of a tiebreak finds early struggles in the following set. Safarova fell into a hole, yielding an early break to Kvitova, who found good success placing her forehand cross-court. She jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the set.

It appeared that Safarova was on the verge of clawing back into the set, but she could not capitalize on a break point. Meanwhile, a confident Kvitova sensed victory and pounded the 27-year-old with huge strikes from the baseline. After a second service break, Kvitova closed out the set and the match on her serve at 6-1. 

“I don’t have words to describe my feeling right now,” Kvitova said afterwards. “It was a tough match mentally, as well, because Lucie is a good friend of mine. We know each (other) very well off the court and on the court, as well.” Nonetheless, the 24-year-old will advance to her second Wimbledon final.

The Czech will now turn her attention to earning her second Grand Slam title. “I know how it feels when you hold the trophy, so I really want to win my second title here and I will do everything I can,” Kvitova said.

Bouchard Advances to First Grand Slam Final

In a highly anticipated semifinal match, two leaders from the next generation of champions battled on Centre Court. Many project Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard as the torch-bearers for the direction of the future of women's tennis. As older veterans start to fade, these two players could earn plenty of hardware for years to come. In round one of what should be many Bouchard-Halep Grand Slam encounters, Bouchard advanced 7-6 6-2.

Halep, who has seen some slow starts in the tournament, took an early break from Bouchard on Thursday. However, the Canadian quickly broke back to even the set. Also, more importantly for the Romanian, she suffered an ankle injury sliding for a backhand from the baseline. After a medical timeout, Halep entered play with her ankle freshly taped.

The injury did not appear to affect her movement as both players continued to feel each other out in the first set. While neither competitor played her best tennis early, the level picked up towards the end of the set with Bouchard aggressively attacking Halep's serve, while the Romanian dictated play on key points. With neither player gaining an advantage, the first set went to a tiebreak, which was interrupted when a fan required medical attention. However, after a five-minute break, Bouchard came back from a 2-4 deficit and took the tiebreak at 7-5 to take the first set.

In the second set, Bouchard benefited from a tight service game by Halep to gain an early break advantage. Deflated, with her confidence fading, Halep continued to struggle and was uncharacteristically erratic with her groundstrokes. Bouchard then showed what appeared to be some late jitters. But, sensing a berth in the final was near, Bouchard did not let her opponent off the hook and served out the set at 6-2, advancing to face Kvitova on Saturday.

The confident Canadian spoke of her rise to success afterwards. “I never say I'm surprised because I put in a lot of hard work over the years. This has been a lot of years in the making. I expect a tough challenge in the final. She will go in prepared. I'm going to give it my best effort in the final.”

As for Halep, questions will arise to the severity of her first-set ankle injury and to the extent it affected her play. Meanwhie, Bouchard did what she does best by fighting on every point, and this time it has earned her a well-deserved reward.