Petra Kvitova claimed the biggest win of her career and a third title of the season when she upset fourth-seed Victoria Azarenka 7-6, 6-4 in the final of the Madrid Open.
The Czech 16th seed, who will now break into the top 10 for the first time, overpowered Belarussian Azarenka with some booming ground-strokes. The 21-year-old squandered a match point on the Azarenka serve at 5-3 in the second set but made no mistake a game later before raising both arms aloft in triumph.
The Czech’s convincing victory further cemented her reputation as a giant-killer, with Azarenka being her ninth career top ten victim. She was overjoyed at the superb display she had put up for the crowd.
“I played some of my best tennis and this has been an amazing tournament for me,” said the Czech.
Confident display
Kvitova, like Azarenka a tall, aggressive player who likes to dominate opponents, made much the faster start on the sun-bathed court and opened a 3-0 lead after breaking her opponent’s serve in the second game. But the Belarussian claimed a break of her own to get the first set back on serve before Kvitova upped her game to take the tie-break 7-3 and a one-set lead.
The Czech carried her momentum into the second set, breaking again in the opening game but both struggled to hold serve from then on until Kvitova confidently served out for her first win in one of the four premier mandatory events on the WTA Tour.
Azarenka, who won the doubles title with Maria Kirilenko on Saturday, now rises one place above French Open champion Francesca Schiavone to number four. The only left-hander in the top 30, Kvitova will climb to 10th from 16th.
The 21-year old Belarussian broke down at the awards ceremony before wishing her opponent luck for the rest of the year.
“I would like to congratulate Petra,” she said. “She had a great week and fully deserved to win today.”
The next stop on the Tour is in Rome before the French Open gets under way on May 22.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2011.
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