Wimbledon Queen Kvitova wins sixth career title

Salman Zahoor October 17, 2011 0

Wimbledon Queen Kvitova wins sixth career title

LINZ: After disappointing campaigns in the last two Grand Slam events of the year, Petra Kvitova found her lost touch in Linz on Sunday when she defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in straight sets to clinch the Linz Open title in style.

Petra Kvitova, who won her first Grand Slam title this year at Wimbledon, proved too big for seventh seed Slovakian opponent as she won the first set by 6-4 before easing into victory in the second set by 6-1.

Kvitova, the 21-year-old from Czech Republic, never looked in trouble and seemed an outright winner right from the start as she claimed her fifth WTA title of the year.

The Czech tennis queen needed only one hour and 29 minutes to seal victory at Linz as her 22-year old Slovakian Cibulkova failed to make full use of her first chance in a final since Montreal in 2008.

Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, the reigning world number one, is the only player who has won more titles this year than Petra Kvitova as she has won six tournaments so far.

It was a great campaign for Kvitova filled with victories over some of the top-ranked players as she defeated Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in semifinals after getting rid of Daniel Hantuchova in quarterfinals.

The WTA Linz Open title has a prize money of $220,000 (159,000 euros).

Kvitova, who won titles at Wimbledon, Brisbane, Madrid, and indoors at Paris earlier this year, told reporters after her brilliant victory, “It wasn’t as clear as the result suggests. It was only easy for me toward the end”.

Kvitova has now set her eyes on the upcoming WTA championships in Istanbul starting from October 25 and will run till October 30. She said, “It was great preparation for me… it’s great for the confidence”.

Cibulkova said, “In the first set, I thought that maybe I could do it, but in the end I was on the defensive too often and she deserved the win”.