By Chris Oddo | Thursday, October 23, 2014
Petra Kvitova turned around her fortunes on Thursday in Singapore, racing past Maria Sharapova in straight sets to keep title hopes alive.
Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Not since 2011, the very year that Petra Kvitova unleashed her own special brand of shock-and-awe tennis to the masses when she won Wimbledon and the WTA Finals, had the hard-hitting Czech notched a win over Maria Sharapova. But after today’s convincing 6-3, 6-2 thrashing of the Russian, Kvitova’s streak of five straight losses to the world No. 2 came to an emphatic end.
More: Wozniacki Rises to Top of Table in Singapore with Win over Radwanska
After a so-so start, the 24-year-old and two-time Wimbledon champion was the master of this match. She committed only 13 unforced errors against 19 winners and broke Sharapova’s serve on five of eight opportunities.
Kvitova, who has always been known as an indoor guru, proved it in spades against Sharapova during the meat of the match, reeling in six of the final seven games to claim the opener, then racing out to a 5-0 lead before Sharapova mounted a mini-rally to draw closer.
But Sharapova was never ever close.
Still, hope is not lost for Sharapova. The Russian still has slim mathematical chances of reaching the semis and claiming the No. 1 ranking, but to do so she’ll have to get hot, and fast.
Kvitova will also need to keep pushing to qualify. She’ll face Caroline Wozniacki on Friday and she is currently tied in the standings with Agnieszka Radwanska at 1-1 in the white group.
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