With the first set under her belt, Kvitova refused to take her foot off the gas as she smashed 28 winners in the match to coast to victory in a little more than an hour. PHOTO: REUTERS
WUHAN: Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova ended her 13-month title drought with a straight-sets win over Dominika Cibulkova at the Wuhan Open yesterday.
The former world number two appeared to be in a hurry to secure the crown — her second in Wuhan — taking just over an hour to defeat Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1.
Kvitova has had a year of stark highs and lows — scooping an Olympic bronze medal but failing to get further than the round of 16 at any of the grand slams.
“I need this kind of consistency all year, which to be honest, I don’t think I can. I’m probably the player who has up and downs,” Kvitova told reporters after the final.
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After the run of early-round exits at the start of the year, she appears to have turned the tide in China and the Wuhan title will see her move to 11th in the rankings when next week’s leaderboard is released on Monday.
She also has an outside chance of qualifying for her fifth consecutive WTA Final in Singapore.
Cibulkova, meanwhile, is assured of a new career-high ranking on Monday — rising to number eight.
World number one Kerber survives scare
She also now sits at number seven on the Road to Singapore leaderboard but needs a strong run in Beijing next week to guarantee her first ever qualification in the elite eight-player event.
“I’m not thinking about Singapore that much because that would be a dream come true if I would get there,” said Cibulkova. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2016.
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