Update 3:30 pm. There are still some tickets available for tonight’s women’s final at Brisbane International 2011. Out of the 32 qualifiers and 32 main draw singles players just Andrea ‘Petkorazzi’ Petkovic and Czech Petra Kvitova remain.
Book your tickets now for tonight’s women’s final from Ticketek.
Not only is the dancing German Petkorazzi yet to drop a set this week, she’s conceded just 17 games in four matches. Her straight sets win over fourth seed and former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli on Friday night was a case in point.
After the Frenchwoman took a 4-1 lead in the opening set, Petkovic won 11 of the remaining 13 games to deny Bartoli a spot in the final.
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Kvitova’s journey to the final was a little more difficult. After upsetting third seed Nadia Petrova in the first round, Kvitova had to navigate her way through some tight matches, including a three-set semifinal against fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday night.
The two finalists have played each other four times since 2009 with Kvitova taking the honours on the first two occasions and Petkovic winning the past two encounters. And with just two ranking spots separating them, this final – on paper – should be a close one.
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The women’s singles final will be preceded by the doubles final between Russian pair Alisa Kleybanova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Polish duo Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska.
While the women headline the night, the men will dominate Pat Rafter Arena during the day.
First up it’s the second men’s doubles semifinal. The fourth seeds, Swede Robert Lindstedt and Romania’s Horia Tacau, take on Germany’s Philipp Petzschner and Austria’s Alexander Peya for a place in Sunday’s final alongside third seeds Paul Hanley of Australia and Czech Lukas Dlouhy.
The second match on at Pat Rafter Arena pits our 2011 top seed, Robin Soderling, against the 2009 men’s singles champion, Radek Stepanek. Soderling has been close to devastating this week, showing glimpses of the form that have taken him to the final of the French Open for the past two years.
Stepanek, meanwhile, has been up to his old tricks. The unseeded 32 year old has already tipped out fourth seed Mardy Fish and seventh seed Florian Mayer to make it to his third consecutive semifinal in Brisbane.
With this in mind, Soderling said he will not be underestimating the wily Czech.
“I’ve played against Radek many times and we’ve always had tough matches so I have to stay focused on this one.”
Rounding out the day session at Pat Rafter Arena is the battle of the big servers – tall South African Kevin Anderson and second seed Andy Roddick will fight it out in the men’s second semifinal.
Like Soderling, Roddick has shown some good early form and is also yet to drop a set. Anderson, meanwhile, has been breaking down his opponents with his big serve. And world No.9 Roddick, who sits more than 50 ranking spots ahead of his semifinal opponent, is wary.
“I think a serve like that [Anderson’s], you could go games without seeing the ball, so it does affect rhythm a little bit,” he said.
“I don’t think it’ll be as much about form as opposed to who takes their opportunities when they present themselves and I’m guessing there probably won’t be a lot.”
Tickets are still available for Brisbane International 2011 from Ticketek.