Petra Kvitova defeated her compatriot Lucie Safarova, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2 in two hours and 18 minutes to win her third title of 2015 at the Connecticut Open.
Before the Match
Kvitova and Safarova have become great friends over the years as both women train at the same tennis academy in Prague, Czech Republic. However, Petra has always had the upper-hand on Lucie in all of their meetings at the professional level, leading the head-to-head 6-0. Their last meeting came in the semifinal of Wimbledon last year, where Kvitova won 7-6(6), 6-1, en route to her second Grand Slam title. Could Safarova get her maiden win over her good friend in this final? Or would it be Kvitova who would make it 7-0 against Lucie - cementing her status as the Czech number one?
Safarova Comes Out on Top to Win the First Set in a Tiebreak
The first set was an extremely tight affair as both Kvitova and Safarova were serving extremely well. On top of that, the compatriots were going toe-to-toe in nearly every rally of the entire set - Safarova's heavy, left-handed topspin countered with Kvitova's flat and powerful ground strokes made for some great points in the opening set. There was only one break point in the whole set, which came when Kvitova was serving at 1-all. Safarova had a chance to go up an early break but she missed a forehand return that sailed just past the baseline. This meant that this set had to be decided in a tiebreak. In the seven point shootout, both women traded mini-breaks early on. However, it was Safarova who took the initiative at 4-all to get a crucial mini break late in the tiebreak. Now up 5-4, she had to hit two big first serves and the set would be hers. She did on the first point to go up 6-4, giving herself two set points. However, Kvitova was not going to let up. With a brave return to save the first set point and a big serve to save the second, the score was now tied at 6-all. With a lot of momentum, Petra looked to be in the ascendancy. But with her powerful, yet unpredictable game, a routine forehand down the middle of the court was dumped into the net. Lucie had another chance to close out the opening set, leading 7-6. This time, she made no mistake. With an effective slice serve into Kvitova's body that forced a return error, Safarova had won the opening set, 7-6(6). This was the first time Lucie had ever won the opening set in seven meetings against Petra.
Kvitova Breaks Safarova Twice to Level the Match
The second set began just like the first as both women were dominant on serve. However, it was at 1-all when Safarova was serving, that Kvitova decided to make her move. On her first break point opportunity of the match, the defending champion of the Connecticut Open pounced. Thanks to an unforced error from Safarova, Kvitova had finally broken serve. The Czech number one had no problem consolidating that break as she held to love, opening up a 3-1 lead. Now with the momentum on her side, the former Wimbledon champion was swinging more freely, and almost all of her shots landed in. Petra had given herself two more break points on Lucie's serve and once again, she only needed the one to go up a sizeable 4-1 lead. Despite some resistance from Safarova, Kvitova was not going to let this set slip out of her grasp. Both women held their next service game respectively, and the Czech number one was going to serve for the set against the Czech number two. On her first set point, Kvitova was able to force another error from Safarova's racquet to win a relatively straight-forward second set, by six games to two.
Kvitova Outlasts Safarova in the Final Set, Successfully Defends Her Connecticut Open Title
The third set began just like the second as both women were able to hold their first service games of the set before the first break points of the set - for either player - presented themselves. At 1-all on Safarova's serve, Kvitova was eager to pounce on three early break point chances. At the second time of asking, Petra broke Lucie's serve for the third time of this encounter, going up an early 2-1 lead. From there, both women continued to hold their respective service games until Kvitova set up three more break points for herself in the seventh game of the final set on Safarova's serve. This time, it was a case of third time lucky for the defending Connecticut Open champion as she broke her Czech counterpart once more, going up a 5-2 lead. Having not been broken all day, Kvitova continued her dominance on serve, holding to 15 to win the match, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2. Apart from this being her third title of the year, this is Petra's 17th WTA-level singles title and third at the Connecticut Open.
What's Next?
Both women will fly to New York City to play the final Grand Slam of the year: the US Open. Safarova will face Lesia Tsurenko in a rematch of their Connecticut Open semifinal that was just played this past Friday. Kvitova will face qualifier Laura Siegemund in her opening round match in the Big Apple.