World number three Petra Kvitova overcame Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets Saturday to win the inaugural $2.4 million WTA Wuhan Open, her third title of the year. The Wimbledon champion was at her ruthless best, defeating the Canadian 6-3, 6-4 - a result which confirmed her place in next month's WTA Finals, the season-ending finale featuring the world's top eight women players.
The final of the premier-ranking tournament was a rematch between the two players who contested the Wimbledon final, and Kvitova reproduced in Wuhan the determination she displayed in London, where she won 6-3, 6-0. The Czech player broke the world number nine in the second game and maintained her 3-0 lead to clinch the first set. Kvitova then took an early lead in the second set, breaking serve in the first game before Bouchard appeared to hurt her middle finger on her left hand which was bandaged later in the game.
The third seed then advanced to 5-2 before Bouchard attempted a comeback. The 20-year-old sixth seed had three break points against Kvitova in the eighth game, and while her opponent clawed her way back into contention with some powerful serving, Bouchard took the game.
The new poster girl for the WTA then took the next game, but Kvitova's strength at the serve wrapped up the set 6-4. "It went well for me, for sure. I start(ed) pretty well," said Kvitova. "The first game I (broke) her was very important for my confidence. I knew that I had to play a little bit more aggressive than I played the matches before."
She added: "I (needed) to play a similar game as in Wimbledon, very aggressively going for the shots." The victory was Kvitova's third over Bouchard in the three games they have previously played. Kvitova crushed her opponent in 55 minutes at Wimbledon, the shortest final ever at the tournament. Bouchard was also defeated when the pair met in Toronto last year.
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