Kvitova seeks a repeat

Petra Kvitova is hoping she can take the same attitude into Thursday's French Open semi-final against Maria Sharapova that helped her to win Wimbledon last summer.

The Czech was fearless on Centre Court in her first grand slam final as she overpowered Sharapova with huge groundstrokes and served out the victory with an ace.

Kvitova said: "It's always a big challenge to play against somebody who is a really top opponent. We have had very close matches. She has had a great year and she's playing very well."

She added: "Wimbledon was something special for me. It was my first final. I was number eight and she was the favourite. I didn't have anything to lose so I just played my game. It was different, for sure.

"In Australia, I didn't practise too much for this tournament. She played well and they are very close matches.

"So sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. But I hope that I remember something from these matches and that it will be different on the clay."

Kvitova had to battle hard to make the last four at Roland Garros for the first time on Wednesday, seeing off qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6 6-2 6-4.

The 22-year-old was erratic in the first set, and was staring down the barrel again when, from 2-0 up in the decider, she lost four straight games, but she recovered very well.

"I expected it would be a tough match and it was," said Kvitova. "She started well and I was very nervous at the beginning. The first set I made easy mistakes.

"Then I knew that I had to change my game and I have to be the aggressive one. The games were very close. I'm happy that I won the big points."