Petra Kvitova cruised past Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1 6-2 to clinch her second Madrid Premier Mandatory title. The Number 4 seed followed up her impressive win over Serena Williams with another great match against Kuznetsova in which she hit 33 winners. Kuznetsova’s match was affected by an injury problem.
Kuznetsova returned to the form reached in 2009 when she won the Roland Garros. This week she upset Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. Kvitova led 3-1 in their previous head-to-head matches but Kuznetsova won their last clash 9-7 in the 3rd set at last year’s Roland Garros.
Kvitova has crowned an impressive week in which she became the first player able to beat Serena Williams this year after 27 consecutive match wins.
Kvitova held her first service game and went op 0-40 on Kuznetsova’s serve but the Russian player held her serve after Kvitova committed two unforced errors. On the third break point opportunity Kuznetsova hit a forehand and held her serve. From 1-1 Kvitova reeled off nine consecutive games to race out to a 6-1 4-0 lead with a series of impressive winners. Kuznetsova faced two break points in the fourth game and was broken on the second chance. Kvitova broke serve again in the sixth game with two consecutive winners.
Kvitova broke in the first game of the second set and held her serve in the second game. Kuznetsova avoided the bagel holding her final two service games but Kvitova was too strong and closed out with 6-1 6-2 after 66 minutes to clinch her second Madrid title four years after beating Vika Azarenka in 2011.
Kvitova clinched her fifth title at Premier Mandatory or Grand Slam level after Madrid, Wimbledon and the WTA Finals in 2011 and Wimbledon in 2014.
“I knew I had to play aggressively because Svetlana is a great player on clay. The last time we played in Paris, I lost to her when we played the normal rallies. I am probably the kind of person who likes to play these kinds of big matches, to play the great tournaments, the Grand Slams.”, said Kvitova.