Serena Williams claims she “feels great” after defeating Andrea Petkovic to secure a Bank of the West Classic final showdown against Angelique Kerber in Stanford.
The American top seed, playing her first event since a shock third round loss to Alize Cornet at Wimbledon in June due to a viral infection, was made to fight hard at the start of the semi-final clash against her German opponent as the first 11 games went with serve.
However, once Williams made the break she didn’t look back as she eased through to the final courtesy of a 7-5 6-0 victory in an hour and 17 minutes.
Williams, who is now eyeing up a third title in four years at Stanford, told the WTA’s official website: “I’m really excited. Andrea and I both had really long matches yesterday, so I was just hoping to come out again today with fresh legs, and just try to do the best I could out there.
“My body feels great. I’m just really excited to be in the finals of Stanford again.”
Kerber had a tougher assignment on the way to the final as she battled from a set down to see off American Varvara Lepchenko 4-6 7-6 (7-4)
6-2 in over two and a half hours.
Kerber said: “I have no idea how I did it. I was just trying to fight until the last point and believe in myself, and just try to change my game in the middle of the match, but I have no idea how I won.”
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