German Open: Petra Kvitova defeated Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2 7-6 on Sunday to win the German Open and reaffirm her form on grass a little over a week before the Grand Slam in London.
The 33-year-old Czech, who defeated Vekic en way to the victory in Miami earlier this year, outlasted the Croat in the opening set, with the 26-year-old battling with her forehand.
Kvitova fell behind by a break early in the second set but rallied from 5-3 to 6-5 with an ace.
Vekic, who has risen from 69th to 23rd in the rankings this season after reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and winning the Monterrey Open, forced a tiebreak.
On the first match point, she was defeated by a thunderous Kvitova forehand.
It marks Kvitova’s first multiple-title season since 2019, and she has now won 12 of her past 13 matches on grass dating back to her title run in Eastbourne last season.
“I love grass, and I love you,” Kvitova said to a dwindling crowd at Steffi Graf Stadium.
“I have to congratulate Donna. You played fantastic tennis. Not only in the final but throughout the week. Yesterday and today were tiring.”
Ostapenko wins her second grass championship in Birmingham.
Jelena Ostapenko won her second grass-court title, defeating Barbora Krejcikova in the final of the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.
In a match between the top two seeds, it was the second seed, Ostapenko, who won 7-6 (8) 6-4.
It was the Latvian’s first championship since Dubai in February of last year, and her first on grass since Eastbourne in 2021.
After saving one set point for Krejcikova, Ostapenko secured a very close first set on her fourth set point in the tie-break and pushed to the verge of victory at 5-1 in the second set.
Czech Krejcikova, who will rejoin to the top 10 on Monday, attempted a comeback by winning three straight games, but Ostapenko prevailed.
“She’s a really great player, and congrats to her and her team,” the 26-year-old remarked, after surviving many close confrontations this week.
“I was really close from 5-1 to 5-4, but I managed to pull it off somehow, and I’m really, really happy about it. Every match was a battle for me. I had five excellent matches, and this was the only one that went to two sets. It’s a terrific warm-up for Wimbledon, and there are still a few things I can improve on.”
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