EASTBOURNE, England — Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova advanced to her first grass-court final in four years by beating Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6 (5), 6-4 at Eastbourne on Friday.
Kvitova will face defending champion Jelena Ostapenko in the final. The eighth-seeded Latvian defeated 12th-seeded Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
Haddad Maia won 12 straight matches on grass including back-to-back singles titles in Nottingham and Birmingham over the last two weeks.
The 14th-seeded Kvitova reached her first final of 2022 and first grass-court final since Birmingham in 2018.
Kvitova earned the only service break of the match to begin the second set against the Brazilian.
The Czech player’s only career loss in five grass-court finals was to Marion Bartoli at Eastbourne in 2011, when Kvitova went on to win Wimbledon for the first time.
Ostapenko was the 2017 French Open champion and 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist.
In the men’s event, third-seeded Taylor Fritz will face Maxime Cressy in the final.
Fritz beat defending champion Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 after Cressy outlasted British wild card Jack Draper 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3 in the other semifinal.
For Cressy, a Paris-born American, it was his third straight victory over a British opponent. He had beaten Cameron Norrie and Daniel Evans.
Fritz is an American who won the Eastbourne title in 2019. He’s ranked No. 14. Cressy is 60th. The final will be their first meeting.