Kvitova Defeats Li in Montreal for First Title of 2012

By Chris Oddo

(August 13, 2012) — Petra Kvitova notched her eighth career title with a back-and-forth and sometimes upside down 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Li Na in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal.

Considering Kvitova’s stellar record in finals, the outcome was predictable. Given Kvitova’s sometimes befuddling flair for the dramatic, so was the circuitous route she took to victory.

Kvitova won a wild first set that featured 17 break points combined between the two players, finally converting on her fifth set point against Li’s serve when the Former French Open champion’s backhand sailed long to end an eight-minute game.

In the second set, the tide shifted dramatically, starting from the very first point.

Li, who has lost the first set against Kvitova all four times they have played (but recovered to win the last two before Monday’s final), reeled off the first 16 points of the second set. The outburst—aided and abetted by Kvitova’s loose play, but also a product of Li’s elevated focus—put ESPN’s commentators on "Golden Set" alert.

The Golden Set was achieved for the first and only time this year at Wimbledon when Yaroslava Shvedova won all 24 points of a set against Sara Errani in the first set of their third-round match.

“Is it possible?” quipped Rennae Stubbs, while Pam Shriver added “It’d be fun to call one; it wouldn’t take a lot of work.”

The Golden Set didn’t materialize, but by the time Kvitova finally won the first point of the fifth game, a third set was clearly in the cards. As Kvitova slowly started to put the pieces of her game back together—she managed two straight holds to stay alive—Li kept grooving her serve.

The Chinese No. 1 and World No. 11, who remains in search of her first title in 2012, closed out the second set with the loss of only three points on her serve; she continued to serve well in the third set, losing only two more in her first two service games to make it five points lost in her last six service games.

But as the two finalists moved through the third set, Kvitova made it a point not to be outdone from the service line. After a sparkling love hold in the fifth game, the 22-year-old Czech led 3-2 and had only dropped two points on serve in the decider.

A few points later, after Li had botched an easy volley to give Kvitova her first break point in of the set, Kvitova began to dial in her return too. She failed on her first two break point attempts, but on the third, a routine forehand error from Li gave her all the cushion she would need on this night.

The 6’1” left-hander finished the set winning all 18 of her first serve points, as her final well-placed first serve glanced of Li’s racquet frame to seal her first title of 2012.

(Photo Credit: Robert Laberge/ Getty)