Birmingham: Petra Kvitova displayed her credentials for a third Wimbledon title after beating Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova 4-6 6-1 6-2 to defend her title at the Nature Valley Classic here yesterday.
The 28-year-old Czech claimed her fifth WTA title of the season, as well as a tour-leading 37th match win of the year, as she came from a set down to triumph.
Rybarikova started the contest on the front foot, punishing Kvitova for her whopping 22 unforced errors by converting two break points to take the opening set.
Kvitova, on the back of fine serving, then roared back with consecutive breaks before levelling the match and then moved up another gear to dominate the final set with a string of powerful forehand winners.
“It’s amazing to defend a title,” Kvitova said courtside. “It’s not happened in a long time for me.”