In the match-up of two-time Grand Slam champions, who were despite that fact unlikely finalists, Petra Kvitova dominated Svetlana Kuznetsova to win the Mutua Madrid Open title with a 6-1 6-2 victory.
Judging by the period leading up to the Premier Mandatory tournament, neither Kuznetsova nor Kvitova were expected to turn out to be the last women standing in the Spanish capital, as the Czech had distanced herself from the tour for more than a month, as advised by her coach who realized she desperately needed a break, and after her recent return she recorded two match wins in the Fed Cup but lost her opener in Stuttgart, while Kuznetsova’s claycourt season began with a loss in Prague last week.
After becoming the first player to beat Serena Williams in 2015, the fourth-seeded Kvitova recorded 33 winners in just 66 minutes of the final Madrid encounter en route to clinching her 16th career title and second this year. Kuznetsova left disappointed: “I’m sorry the level wasn’t very high, but I promise to come next year and play better.”
Petra is just ruthless in finals isn’t she ? If taking a break was what she needed, I wish she had taken that in 2013 as well but she really looks fresh and fired up. I am happy that she won this title again which brought her into title picture first. It’d be interesting to see how she does in Rome and Paris. As for Kuznetsova we never know when she’ll play great and when she’ll play plain flat ( I feel like I used this description for someone else can’t remember who :P) and she used same tactics that she used against maria. She was trying to use high bounce and by adding spin she thought it’d work. On a Petra-OFF day that would be a great but when unfortunately for kuznetsova, Petra was on fire and focused.
Petra was on fire in the finals! Happy to see her win in Madrid. Kuznetsova played well but Petra was just that much better! Good for her!
In Petra’s case, it has really proven to be a groundbreaking decision to take some weeks off. Although, I have to say I hoped for a Kuznetsova victory, to bring back the good old times of my early days of blogging when Kuznetsova was one of the biggest threats on tour.
Although she missed significant points from IW-Miami, it was a good move. I’m thinking she wants one more slam. Maybe French Open?
Emman Damian, well it’s still a long shot, but she’ll certainly do her best.
Kvitova always plays good tennis and it’s no wonder that she won the Madrid open. Congratulations to Kvitova & also to Kuznetsova, the finalist!