THE second half of the women’s Roland Garros quarter finals was far more predictable than yesterday’s outcomes, seeing the two seeds in Sofia Kenin and Petra Kvitova win their way through to the semi-finals. While Kenin had to battle through a comeback, Kvitova never looked like losing and made it through to her first French Open semi-final since 2012.

It was a clahsh of compatriots between Kenin and Danielle Collins, with both players stealing a set off the other early before Kenin flew out of the gates in the third for a 6-4 4-6 6-0 victory in just over two hours. While Collins had won all three prior encounters, Kenin is not seeded fourth for nothing and hit 38 winners for 26 unforced errors in the battle to reign supreme this time around. Kenin well and truly took advantage of Collins playing a few days straight, after rain delayed her almost two hour match with Ons Jabeur.

“I’m super happy. I know she plays really aggressive and I knew I needed to play aggressive myself, have a high first-serve percentage and I think I did that,” Kenin said post-match.

“The difference is definitely mental. I like winning in three sets! I know it’s going to be tough but I got the win and I’m proud of myself.”

With a 75 per cent winning rate off her first serve, Kenin also was marginally better overall on her second serve and sped through the final set in 29 minutes, setting up a head-to-head with Kvitova in the semi final.

Kvitova was clinical as ever against German Laura Siegemund, winning 77 per cent of points off her first serve in a 6-3 6-3 78 minute victory. Yet to drop a set at the Roland Garros, Kvitova continued her strong form in this encounter and used her powerful serve to her advantage, racking up six aces to Siegemund’s nil.

“She’s (Siegemund) a tricky opponent, she has lots of variety in her game. Of course, playing the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam, nothing is easy with nerves,” Kvitova said post-match. “I’m happy with my side, with the mental side, and how I handled the pressure out there.

“Of course, I’m happy with my game as well. I served very well in the first set. Then it was a little bit about a few points. When I lost serve I broke her back, I was there, still staying positive and that was a big advantage for me today.”

It was a fairly clean effort from the Czech seventh seed too, hitting 22 winners for 15 unforced errors, and while Siegemund had a couple of opportunities to steal back games she was ultimately unable to control proceedings enough to get a win on the board.