Kvitova beats Li to first title of season

MONTREAL - Agence France-Presse

Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova finally showed glimpses of her 2011 form at the Montreal Masters. REUTERS photo

Former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova claimed her first title of 2012 as she won a battle of ex-grand slam champions, beating China’s Li Na 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 at the Montreal Masters on Aug. 13.

Kvitova, the fifth seed, rode a roller coaster in the 62-minute opening set which featured 17 break points between the error-prone pair with a dozen of those saved.

“I hope this is good preparation for the US Open,” said Kvitova. “I had some good matches here and hope to continue. But every tournament is different and every player is tough, so we’ll see.

“It’s great to have a good result in North America before the Open. I’m so glad I was able to play well here.” The momentum shifts were fast and frequent in the opener, with the 22-year-old Czech and her Chinese opponent, who won Roland Garros last season, exchanging the lead back and forth. Kvitova finally took the early lead on a fifth set point in a monster final game.

Dropping the first set seemed to spur on Li, 30, who had come from 5-1 down in her semi-final win over Lucie Safarova, and the 2011 Paris champion won a break at the start of the second set and went on to win it and level the match.

The pair settled in during the third set, with Kvitova earning a break for 4-2 and eventually earned the trophy three games later on her first match point after two and a quarter hours.

She had six double-faults while losing her serve four times on the way to victory.