WUHAN, China: World No. 3 Petra Kvitova powered into the semifinals of the $2.4 million WTA Wuhan Open Thursday, joining Eugenie Bouchard and Caroline Wozniacki in the last four, while Angelique Kerber crashed out.

Wimbledon champion Kvitova advanced at the expense of Caroline Garcia, who had previously performed heroics at the inaugural tournament, beating Venus Williams and world No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska.

The third seed in Wuhan proved to be a step too far for the 20-year-old French rising star, who took only one game in the opening five, before going on to lose 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.

Garcia, who is ranked 49th, has won one WTA title in her career, at Bogota in April.

Kvitova told reporters after the match that she was content with the conditions in Wuhan.

“The court feels a little bit faster... and that probably is what suits my game,” she said.

“I just feel well here. The people are coming to support us every time, so it’s beautiful to see them there. I feel good, and I work(ed) hard before I came here.”

The Czech will now face Elina Svitolina in Friday’s semifinal after the Ukrainian beat German seventh seed Angelique Kerber in their quarterfinal match 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

It was a feisty performance from the 34th-ranked player in the world, who showed greater composure in the hot and humid conditions.

Bouchard will go on to play Wozniacki in the semis, after the world No. 7 overcame Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky after a scare.

Bacsinszky, who beat Maria Sharapova in the last round, took the first set against Wozniacki 6-4, but the Dane powered back to take the remaining sets 6-2, 6-3.

The Wuhan Open in the central province of Hubei features the world’s top 20 women players and reaches its climax on Saturday.

Gulbis struggles

In Kuala Lumpur, Latvian Ernests Gulbis had to slog for two hours Thursday before defeating Germany’s Philipp Petzschner with a 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-1 win to check into the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open.

The second seed player, who is touted to be Kei Nishikori’s top contender in this tournament, executed a series of powerful serves to take a healthy 3-0 lead, mixing it with some accurate volleys and good net play to wrap up the first set 6-3 in 33 minutes.

Gulbis led 3-1 in the second set before a myriad of unforced errors crept into his game, allowing Petzschner back at 3-3, before the qualifier won 7-6 (7/3) courtesy of some trademark backhand returns.

The 26-year-old Gulbis, who smashed his racquet in the second to receive a penalty conduct, held his nerves to win the decider 6-1, with the majority of his winners coming from his powerful forehand drives.

The outspoken Latvian player, who has enjoyed a successful year including a first Grand Slam semifinal appearance at the French Open, was far from happy despite his win.

Nishikori had said his crushing recent defeat in the US Open final left him drained, but the world’s rising tennis star showed no hint of that Wednesday, cruising into the Malaysian Open last eight in his return to the court.

The world No.8 sent Rajeev Ram of the United States packing in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday, indicating his strong desire to win in Malaysia.

Third seed Leonardo Mayer of Argentina however suffered an upset as he crumbled in straight sets 7-6, 6-4 to Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, who created history this year by recording the quickest win on the ATP Tour by when he downed Bernard Tomic in just 28 minutes.

“I expected it to be a tough match. Even if I lost I would have been happy with my game, but you need to be in top form to beat a player like Mayer,” said the 33-year-old.

The doubles pairing of Andre Begemann and Julian Knowle, who stunned top seeds Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen on Wednesday meanwhile continued their fine run by routing USA’s duo Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-3.

Crowd favorite and local lad Syed Mohd Agil with partner Nick Kyrgios also went down to the second seeds Jamie Murray and John Peers 6-3, 6-4.