Wuhan, China – World number three Petra Kvitova powered through to the semi-finals of the $2.4 million WTA Wuhan Open Thursday, putting an end to the heroics of French rising star Caroline Garcia.
Garcia had beaten Venus Williams and world number six Agnieszka Radwanska on route to the quarter-finals, but the Wimbledon champion proved to be too much for the 20-year-old.
Garcia took only one game in the opening five, before Kvitova, the third seed in Wuhan, went on to win the set 6-3.
The pair matched each other early on in the second set before Kvitova broke serve in the seventh game and closed in on victory by taking the set 6-4.
The Czech will not play either German seventh seed Angelique Kerber or Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in Friday's semi-final.
Garcia, who is ranked 49th, has won one WTA title in her career, at Bogota in April.
The Wuhan Open in the central province of Hubei features the world's top 20 women players and reaches its climax on Saturday.
The other quarter finals in Wuhan are between Alize Cornet of France and Canada's world number nine Eugenie Bouchard, and Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky and world number seven Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. – Sapa-AFP