Luxembourg Open: Bouchard clinches SF spot due to Petkovic retirement

Andrea Petkovic suffered an injury in the late stages to end her run at the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open. Having Eugenie Bouchard down a set, the German suffered a strain that caused her to retire after four games of the second on Stadium Court at CK Sportscenter.

The German has a long history of wins against Bouchard dating back to 2011. The last time the Canadian won was during her 2014 Wimbledon run, defeating Petkovic in the third round in straight sets.

The German opened a short lead but got into trouble with the unforced errors that had her losing control of the lead. Two chances to hold on deuce allowed her to fight back against Bouchard in the second where the competition was heavy. Both had issues that forced deuce where after five breaks and three break point attempts, Petkovic had the 2-0 edge. She made it 3-0 putting down a clean serve to love that had Bouchard calling for her coach Michael Joyce who she told that her toes were hurting most that led to Petkovic dictating. Despite her issues, he pleaded with her to try to do the best she could.

She settled out the issues and fired away a big offence that held Petkovic to a solo point getting Bouchard on the board. Her defence soon followed the rhythm of her previous win scoring a break to get back within reach of Petkovic through five. Despite running behind in the sixth, the 24-year-old climbed back to force deuce and clinch a third straight from the 31-year-old. The German was intent on ending the winning streak holding service with big winners that had the Canadian beat taking the lead back.

She consolidated it with a break of serve as Bouchard was loose on the returns giving the German her first shot at the set. She put a lot of pep on her forehand serves that caused Bouchard trouble to reach three set points. The Canadian wouldn’t go down that way and fought with a great winning return giving Petkovic one more chance to avoid going to deuce. Bouchard continued to battle on causing the German to err into the net. The 24-year-old got two chances for the break making it possible for her to try and keep the set alive with a 5-4 score.

With the ball in hand, Bouchard served to force a tie in the set and go further. Unfortunately, the returns from the 24-year-old continued to fall long of the baseline giving Petkovic three set points again. With an error into the net, Petkovic took it after a five-shot rally ending 46 minutes of play. The 31-year-old had a significant differential on the second serve which served her enough to get ahead of the Canadian in the late stages. She clearly suffered from the second serve which failed her 75 per cent of the time making 11 errors.

She rallied back to build a win to start the second set with a break in hand. She consolidated it with a hold in the second before a strange occurrence took place with Petkovic calling the physio about her left leg. While she was examined, Bouchard called Joyce down who told her to play point after point and the opportunities would come more.

After a medical timeout was concluded with Petkovic being treated, Bouchard gained another break with a 3-0 lead in hand. It looked as if the issue with Petkovic was not solved where at times she walked differently on one leg. She suffered another loss trying very hard to stay competitive and not retire. When the Canadian clinched a fourth in a row, Petkovic walked up to the net to shake hands and conclude the match in one hour and five minutes.

Genie Bouchard advances to the @WTAluxembourg semifinals 4-6, 4-0 ret. as Andrea Petkovic is forced to retire. pic.twitter.com/3vgMZrhpfY

— WTA (@WTA) October 18, 2018

What looked to be a fight to three sets gave Bouchard time to stay off the court to recover before her semifinal on Friday where she’ll face Julia Goerges next.