Kvitova powers past Svitolina to claim WTA Elite title
Send a link to a friend
[November 07, 2016]
(Reuters) - Petra Kvitova
overcame a poor start to win the season-ending WTA Elite trophy with
a 6-4 6-2 victory over Elina Svitolina in Zhuhai, China on Sunday.
Kvitova began slowly and trailed 4-1 in the opening set after
struggling to hold serve and making a string of unforced errors.
The big-hitting Czech, however, eventually found her range with her
first serve and cranked up the aggression to win the next five games
in quick succession and wrap up the opening set.
Kvitova carried her momentum into the second, sweeping aside her
Ukrainian opponent to secure victory in one hour and 10 minutes.
"She played a little bit more aggressively than me in the beginning
of the match. So I was trying to get the rhythm to play a little bit
more aggressively," Kvitova told reporters, after wrapping up a
sixth straight win over Svitolina.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/07/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
The WTA Elite trophy is a year-end event involving the 12 highest
ranked women who did not qualify to play at the WTA Finals in
Singapore last week.
Kvitova, who has never been higher than two in the world rankings,
said she had been inspired by Angelique Kerber's rise to the top,
and also congratulated newly-crowned men's number one Andy Murray.
"The number one spot is still missing in my career. I know how
difficult it is. We just saw how Angie did it. It's a great thing to
have for sure," the twice Wimbledon champion said.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/110716pics/sports45.jpg)
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reacts as she plays against
Madison Keys of the U.S. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
"I told him (Murray) congratulations because I think it's a great
achievement. I think he did everything he possibly could to be
there, so I'm really happy for him."
(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby
Davis)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/07/images/ads/current/aaa_lda_FFARM_2016.png) |