Kvitova beats Kerber to claim Pan Pacific Open
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, September 29, 2013
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Cara Black (right) of Zimbabwe, holding her son Lachlan, and India's Sania Mirza pose with their trophy — a traditional Japanese battledore — after beating Chan Hao-ching of Chinese Taipei and American Liezel Huber 4-6, 6-0, 11-9 in the Pan Pacific Open doubles final yesterday. |
Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic beat Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 to win the Pan Pacific Open title in Tokyo yesterday.
The seventh-seeded Kvitova hit a crosscourt forehand to the corner to close out the match in 1 hour, 39 minutes.
After failing to win a game in the second set, Kvitova recovered to take a 4-0 lead in the final set. Kerber then fought off three match points before Kvitova finally capitalized on her fourth attempt.
"I felt a little slower in the second set," Kvitova said. "I gave away a few easy points and she was waiting for that so I just told myself I had to be more aggressive in the third set and that was the difference."
Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, claimed her 11th career title and second of the year. Kerber, 25, had been trying to win her first of the year and third overall.
Kvitova will move up to No. 7 in the world rankings from her current spot of 11th.
"It's always a great feeling if you win a title at a tournament," the 23-year-old said. "It means a lot for me because I know every year there is a great draw here."
In Beijing, French interest in the China Open women's draw ended on the opening day of the tournament yesterday, with both Kristina Mladenovic and Alize Cornet crashing out in the first round.
Mladenovic fought back from a set down to come within reach of forcing 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro to a third set tie-break, but the Spaniard eventually claimed a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory.
Suarez Navarro will face German Mona Barthel in the second round of the dual ATP and WTA event, which is being played at Beijing's Olympic Park.
Cornet retired injured in the first set of her match with Francesca Schiavone, with the score 3-2 in the Italian's favor.
Schiavone potentially faces a tough task in the second round, facing either Russia's Elena Vesnina or the top seed, American Serena Williams.
Meanwhile, American Sloane Stephens cruised through to the second round, claiming victory over Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-4.
The 12th seed and US No. 2 will face Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova in her next match.
Elsewhere, tenth seed Roberta Vinci beat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-2 to book her place in the second round. The Italian's victory earned her a tie against either Zhang Shuai or her Chinese compatriot Peng Shuai.
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