|
Tennis: Kvitova Courts Istanbul Title
-DR. ABDUL RUFF
------------
--------
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova clinched the WTA Championships with a battling victory over Victoria Azarenka.
As an atmosphere of electric circuit, Petra Kvitova, the champion of Wimbledon 2011, has now capped an absolute breakthrough year at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul on 30th October night, recording an electric 75 46 63 victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to conquer the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships and rise to No.2 in the world. Her performance was a feast for a packed crowd of over 13,000 spectators (more precisely, 13676 persons) and those who watched or allowed to watch by the regimes (for instance India disallows people like me to watch the live tennis and they relay only recorded tennis that promotes exclusive Indian interest), the tennis over their TV sets.
There seems to be no hidden agendas or false gimmicks n the courts. The tennis fans were cheering Kvitova and Azarenka on throughout their two-hour, 28-minute final.
"It was unbelievable tennis," Kvitova belonging to Bilovec, Czech Republic, A former socialist nation turned capitalistic and terrorist NATO member, said in her on-court interview right after the match. Kvitova just began blasting right from the onset her strong opponent Azarenka in finals. Maybe drawing confidence from winning her last three meetings with Azarenka, the first 30 minutes of the match were all Kvitova, as she stormed out to a 5-0 lead and seemed well on her way to extending that streak. However she quickly lost her momentum after that and Azarenka was able to swing the momentum, winning the next five games; but Kvitova won the first set. Azarenka won the second set making the third set crucial for both which Kvitova got.
Azarenka seemed dazed and resigned to the loss of the opener as Kvitova, with her fierce forehand firing, ripped through her fifth successive game with a combination of touch and power. Against a powerful Azarenka, Kvitova hung tough at what was perhaps the most critical time of the match, holding that service game then getting the only break of the set in the next game. Kvitova, who became increasingly animated as she closed in on victory, was rarely threatened on her serve thereafter and her opponent dumped a backhand volley into the net on match point to give the Czech the title after nearly two and a half hours.
It is her sixth title of the season, equaling the haul of Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki - the one woman ahead of her in the rankings. "It's hard to lose, but I'm glad I lost to such a champion who deserved to win," Azarenka said. "Petra was amazing today. She really did a great job." In the semis, Kvitova beat Stosur, 57 63 63, while Azarenka beat Zvonareva, 62 63.
The 21-year-old Czech is just the third player in the history of the event to win it in her first year, after Serena Williams (2001) and Maria Sharapova (2004). Kvitova going 3-0 with straight set wins over Vera Zvonareva, Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska
Kvitova is moving fast towards the top slot in woman tennis. Not only does Kvitova move to No.2 in the rankings now - the winner of this final would be No.2, the runner-up No.3 - but she has equaled No.1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki's WTA-leading six titles for the season, having captured titles at Brisbane, Paris [Indoors], Madrid, Wimbledon, Linz and now Istanbul.
Kvitova added the WTA Championships title to 2011 wins in Brisbane, Paris, Madrid, Wimbledon and Linz. In business terms, the 21-year-old Kvitova will also take home $1.75m (£1.1m) in prize money after rounding off an excellent season with a clean sweep of her round-robin matches en route to the final.
Kvitova began the season outside the Top 30 and is now just one spot away from the top ranking. Kvitova, therefore, actually doesn’t think really think she has wrapped up her season just as yet - she leads the Czech Republic against Russia in the Fed Cup final next weekend and she is now fully focused on that title as well to celebrate their complete victory.
|