Kvitova confirms Singapore spot with Wuhan title

World number three holds of Bouchard in straight sets

WUHAN, CHINA: World number three Petra Kvitova overcame Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets on Saturday to win the inaugural $2.4 million WTA Wuhan Open, her third title of the year.

The Wimbledon champion was at her ruthless best, defeating the Canadian 6-3, 6-4 — a result which confirmed her place in next month's WTA Finals, the season-ending finale featuring the world's top eight women players.

The final of the premier-ranking tournament was a rematch between the two players who contested the Wimbledon final, and Kvitova reproduced in Wuhan the same determination she had displayed in London, where she won 6-3, 6-0.

The Czech player broke the world number nine in the second game and maintained her 3-0 lead to clinch the first set.

Kvitova then took an early lead in the second set, breaking serve in the first game before Bouchard appeared to hurt her left hand’s middle finger which was bandaged later in the game.

The third seed then advanced to 5-2 before Bouchard attempted a comeback.

The 20-year-old sixth seed had three break points against Kvitova in the eighth game, and while her opponent clawed her way back into contention with some powerful serving, Bouchard took the game.

The new poster girl for the WTA then took the next game, but Kvitova's strength at the serve wrapped up the set 6-4.

"It went well for me, for sure,” said Kvitova. “I started pretty well.

"The first game in which I broke her was very important for my confidence. I knew that I had to play a little bit more aggressively than I played in the matches before."

She added: "I [needed] to play a similar game as in Wimbledon, going for the aggressive shots."

The victory was Kvitova's third over Bouchard in the three games they have previously played.

And the Czech has finally enjoyed a return to consistency at Wuhan after a poor run in the North American swing.

She won her second tournament of the year at New Haven, but crashed out of the US Open in the third round to 145th-ranked Serbian qualifier Aleksandra Krunic.

Kvitova then lost to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, her quarter-final opponent in Wuhan, in her opening match in Cincinnati.

The victory at the Wuhan Optics Valley Tennis Center also means the left-hander will retain her position as world number three. If she had finished runner up, Russian Maria Sharapova would have leapt from fourth to third when the rankings are next updated by the WTA.