Intro:

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated defending champion Maria Sharapova in straight sets on Friday (8th May) to reach the final of the Madrid Open.

Petra Kvitova beat Serena Williams for the first time in her career to reach the final of the WTA Madrid Masters on Friday (8th May).

Script:
 
Sunshine welcomed crowd and players alike as the semi-finals of the WTA Madrid Open got underway.

The first match saw an all Russian affair, with third seed Maria Sharapova taking on Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The latter came into the tournament unseeded but didn't wait long to show her worth in the match dominating her opponent to secure the first set 6-2.

Sharapova attempted to battle back in the second and came close to securing a break.

But Kuznetsova managed to hold on to her serve and in doing so never looked back as she went on to seal her first victory over Sharapova in seven years, 6-2 6-4.

She will face Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the final after she pulled off an even bigger upset in the day's other semi-final.

Kvitova was up against world number one, Serena Williams, who came into the game on the back of a 27-match winning streak and with a 5-0 record against Kvitova.

But this proved to be the Czech player's day as she came up with winner after winner against a sluggish looking Williams.

She sealed the first set 6-2 and continued her dominance in the second.

Williams, who won the Madrid title in 2012 and 2013 put up a slight resistance but couldn't handle Kvitova big serves and groundstrokes as she succumbed 6-2 6-3 in the biggest upset of the tournament.