Kvitova, Vinci advance to Katowice Open semifinals

KATOWICE, Poland, April 12 (UPI) -- Top seed Czech Petra Kvitova and second-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci advanced to the semifinals at the inaugural Katowice Open with easy victories Friday.

Kvitova, a former Wimbledon champion, eliminated Croat Petra Martic 6-3, 6-2 in 69 minutes and will face Romanian qualifier Alexandra Cadantu Saturday.

Vinci needed just 67 minutes to get past Czech wild card Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-0 and advance to a semifinal match against German Annika Beck Saturday.

Cadantu reached the semifinals with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 comeback win over Israeli lucky loser Shahar Peer.

Beck advanced with a 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 victory over Italian qualifier Maria Elena Camerin.