Petra Kvitova suffers shock St Petersburg defeat but Kiki Bertens eases into semis

Australian Open runner-up Petra Kvitova crashed out of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Friday after she was defeated by Croatia’s Donna Vekic.

World number two Kvitova, who was also the top seed and defending champion, was crushed 6-4 6-1 in a big upset in the quarter-finals.

The Czech two-time Wimbledon champion, played a wretched match, making 42 unforced errors in a match that lasted nearly 90 minutes.

“My game [plan] was to try to be the first one to be aggressive, to open up the court, and try to make her run and defend, and obviously serve well,” Vekic said afterwards.

Vekic will now face Vera Zvonareva, who beat third seed Daria Kasatkina 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in an all-Russian clash.

Meanwhile, Dutch second seed Kiki Bertens is safely through to the last four after a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Bertens will face Belorussian Aryna Sabalenka after the fourth seed overcame Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 6-4.

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