Kvitova beats Errani to capture Dubai title
Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova scored her biggest success in
15 months when a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Sara Errani earned her the
Dubai Open title on Saturday.
There were moments in the first and third sets when Kvitova looked as
though she could become a Grand Slam challenger, but in between she was
thankful that she could discover enough mental strength to recover from
a rocky mid-match spell.
It means that the fierce-hitting 22-year-old Czech has now won eight
of her 10 career titles at Premier or Grand Slam level, a statistic
which says something about her capacity for delivering when it matters
most.
Italian Errani, who was voted the tour's most improved player last
year, played with surprising courage to abandon her patient rallying in
favour of flatter hitting and net attacks. Although this did not turn
the match completely around it did prevent it becoming a rout. It was
up and down, but I can say I was focussed and calm, which was important
after the second set, said Kvitova.
It was important to stay in the game and to do my best and to be
aggressive. It was also notable that Kvitova's resilience was achieved
without the services of her coach David Kotyza whom, she said, was on
holiday.
I hope he is happy, she commented. It was something special. I am
here alone. Sometimes it is difficult to go on court and think about the
game by myself. The hard-hitting Czech looked as though she was going
to swamp the French Open finalist when she trampled her way through the
first four games in 15 minutes and took the first set in little more
than half an hour. During that time Errani, the loser of all six
previous sets against Kvitova, managed just a single winner, and looked
almost certain to lose two more. |