By Alberto Amalfi | Sunday, February 15, 2015
Andrea Petkovic captured her sixth career title today in Antwerp when Carla Suarez Navarro withdrew from the final with a neck injury.
Photo credit: BNP Paribas Fortis Diamond Games Facebook
Andrea Petkovic's sixth career title came with no sweat.
Petkovic collected the Antwerp title when Carla Suárez Navarro withdrew from today's final due to a neck injury.
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Petkovic's performance in Antwerp this week will propel her back into the WTA Top 10 for the first time since 2012 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
"I really like Carla, she's a great person and always friendly and positive, and she has a tremendous amount of talent,'' Petkovic said. ''You can never really enjoy the win when you don't fight for it. I had a great week and I'm leaving as the champion, but definitely mixed emotions.''
The fifth-seeded Suárez Navarro, who beat Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 6-2, in Saturday's semifinals, said she woke up with neck pain, tried to practice, but was unable to serve. Suárez Navarro said the neck injury prevented her from turning her head to the left.
"I woke up in the morning and I felt this pain in my neck," Suárez Navarro said. "I went to the physio to get treatment and tried to play at 11:30, then had physio again and tried to play again at 2:15, and I just couldn't serve. I couldn't play like I wanted. So I had to pull out of this final.
"I'm really sorry. I love this tournament and I had a great week. I really tried today."
Though Petkovic clinched in a walkover, she earned her second career hard-court title the hard way. She fought off eight match points in a gritty second-round win over Belgian wildcard Alison Van Uytvanck in a three hour, 19-minute marathon that was the longest WTA match of the season.
The third-seeded German edged Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) in a two hour, 26-minute semifinal on Saturday. That came a day after Petkovic defeated world No.18 Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals, for her first Top 20 win of the season.
When she wasn't curling drives into the corner, the entertaining Petkovic took time out to put some Zoolander spin on her walk down the Antwerp runway during the tournament fashion show.