Seed No.7 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic defeated seed No.5 Angelique Kerber of Germany in the big all-lefty final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Saturday and won $426,000 in prize money and 900 ranking points.
Kvitova’s game was on in the first set and she won it 6-2 without dropping serve, but then Kerber found her pace and established command in the second set with a bagel. In the third set Kerber just couldn’t keep up and Kvitova ran away with four straight games for a 4-0 lead and soon with the entire match 6-2 0-6 6-3 for her second title this year and a return from No.11 to No.7 in the WTA rankings. The Czech won her previous title this year in February, in Dubai, beating Sara Errani in the final, 6-2 1-6 6-1.
This week at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, after a first-round bye, Kvitova paved her road to victory by eliminating 326th-ranked wildcard Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the second round, 43rd-ranked Madison Keys of the United States in the third round, world No.27 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the quarterfinals, resurgent former No.1 Venus Williams in the semifinals, and finally Kerber. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
Well done Petra! Hopefully this is her return to elite & consistency.