ISLAMABAD: Petra Kvitova has claimed the Miami Open title with an impressive 7-6 (14) 6-2 victory over Elena Rybakina.
Her victory ended a 13-match winning streak for Wimbledon champion Rybakina who had dropped just one set in Miami, after triumphing at Indian Wells last month.
Reaching the Miami final for the first time in 13 attempts – the 41st final of her career – Kvitova produced a spectacular display against Kazakhstan’s Rybakina who has the most main-draw wins (21) on the WTA Tour this year.
After failing to serve out the opening set at 5-4, the Czech eventually prevailed in an outstanding 22-minute tie-break, which swung back and forth before she took her fifth set-point opportunity – having faced five herself.
World number seven Rybakina, 23, failed to respond and her wish to become only the fifth woman to achieve the Sunshine Double faded away soon.
Establishing a 3-0 second-set lead after claiming an early break, Kvitova twice held serve to love and broke Rybakina again to clinch her ninth WTA 1000 title, and biggest victory since Madrid in 2018.
With the win, Kvitova is back in the world’s top 10 for the first time since September 2021. She will also be recieving $1.26m (£1.02m) in prize money.
