Kvitova beats Safarova to reach second Wimbledon final

London (dpa) - Petra Kvitova defeated fellow Czech Lucie Safarova 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 on Thursday to reach her second final at the Wimbledon Championships.

She will await an opponent from the high-profile contest later between French Open finalist Simona Halep, seeded third, and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, playing in her third grand slam semi-final of the season.

The win was the sixth for Kvitova without a loss against her rival, taking her record to 6-0 in the series.

Kvitova advanced in just under 90 minutes with eight aces, breaking three times and striking 24 winners.

It was the third time that two Czech women have advanced to the semi-finals at the same grand slam in the post-1968 Open era, after the 1980 Australian open and 1986 Roland Garros.

Kvitova needed close to an hour to win the tight opening set but broke it open as she ran away with the second to victory.