Paris: Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova powered past unseeded German Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the French Open on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old, a two-time champion at Wimbledon, reached the last four stage on the claycourts at Roland Garros for the second time since 2012 and was yet to lose a set at this year's tournament in Paris.
Siegemund, ranked 66th in the world, did not pose a challenge in the opening set but gave a good account of herself in the second despite suffering a lower back problem midway through the set.
Kvitova converted her second match point when her 32-year-old opponent served a double fault and the Czech will meet Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin for a place in the final.
Fourth seed Sofia Kenin claimed her maiden French Open semifinal spot as she fought to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 victory over fellow American Danielle Collins.
Kenin was kept on her toes for two sets by an opponent who had beaten her in their previous encounters before strolling through the decider.
Collins seemed bothered by midriff pains in the third set, looking unable to give her maximum effort in the finale on court Philippe Chatrier. After a solid start on both sides, Collins served a woeful double fault to hand Kenin the first break of the match, and a 3-2 lead.
She held serve and set up another break point at 4-2 but Collins saved it to stay in contention. Kenin was, however, solid on her service games and she bagged the opening set when her opponent's return sailed wide.
It was the first time Kenin took a set against Collins in four encounters, and the fourth seed kept her momentum, breaking again for 3-2 in the second set as her unseeded opponent smacked a forehand long. But this time, Collins hit back to level for 3-3 and she started to threaten Kenin's serve, eventually breaking again to level.
The comeback was short-lived, though, as Collins quickly fell 4-0 behind in the decider before taking a medical timeout, holding her midriff as she went off the court for treatment.
Kenin easily won the remaining two games.
