By Erik Gudris | Sunday, June 25, 2017
Petra Kvitova said she just went to Birmingham to have some coffee and play some matches. But she ended up taking home the Aegon Classic title in only her second event back on tour after surviving a knife attack six months ago.
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Kvitova claimed her 20th career WTA title in a three set win over Australian Ash Barty who proved a worthy foe against the two-time Wimbledon champion. Despite many wondering if Kvitova would ever play tennis again after the attack, Kvitova now finds herself once again on the short list of Wimbledon contenders.
“I like to play finals on the grass,” Kvitova said with a smile when reminded this was her first grass court final since winning Wimbledon in 2014. “It was an amazing week and tournament.”
“You an inspirtation and a champion,” Barty said to Kvitova during the trophy ceremony. “We love you and we missed you and we’re glad to have you back on court.”
Barty started off the first set serving incredibly well as Kvitova struggled to find her range early. Barty earned a quick service break and then continued her strong serving. The Australian, having dropped only one point so far on serve, then served for the set up 5-3.
Kvitova took advantage of a few errors to earn her first ever break point while trailing 4-5. But Barty recovered to finally serve out the set 6-4.
Kvitova then seemed to reset her game as the second set got underway. Playing with more authority and dictating more in the rallies, the lefty Czech took control.
With strong returns, Kvitova jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead. Kvitova, due to some unexpected serving woes, couldn’t serve it out in the next game. Barty managed to earn a few games, but Kvitova soon closed the door by taking the set 6-3.
The third set continued to be all about Kvitova as she once again enjoyed an early service break lead. But leading 2-1, Kvitova experienced another dip in form. The Czech hit an overhead well long and then, facing break point, got stretched out wide by Barty forcing her to hit her shot long. That allowed Barty to level the set at 2-all.
That would be the last hope for Barty as once again Kvitova reasserted herself with power hitting.
Kvitova broke Barty back for 3-2 and then soon took command again. Down the stretch, Kvitova won 15 out of the last 18 points, including on match point. Serving her 13th ace, Kvitova served out the title at love to complete the comeback 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. win.
Kvitova hit 35 winners to just 14 from Barty while the Czech hit 25 unforced errors to 12 from the Australian who will rise to a career high singles ranking inside the top 60.
In the trophy ceremony, Kvitova thanked her team for keeping her smiling and focused during her time away from tennis.