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World number 10 Petra Kvitova has made another big step on her comeback trail, defeating the 7th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu 4-6 6-2 6-3 in 2 hours and 16 minutes for her 23rd WTA title and the first on the home soil. This was their first meeting and Kvitova had to work hard to earn the triumph, wasting a 4-1 lead in the opening set but finding her range in the rest of the match to be the dominant figure on the court in sets two and three and claim the trophy in front of the home crowd.
Both players served above 70% but Petra defended her second serve better, despite the fact she had to play against 12 break points, just like Buzarenscu. The Romanian got broken five times and she earned only three breaks on the other side, not enough for a more positive result or potentially for the first WTA title.
Petra was off to a great start, breaking in game two after a deep return and creating two more break chances in game four, failing to create the bigger gap. Mihaela saved another break point in game six and her efforts started to pay back, pulling the break back in game seven and holding at 15 in the following game to level the score at 4-4.
The momentum was on her side now and she broke again in game nine when Kvitova sent a forehand long, holding at love a few minutes later to rattle off five straight games and the opener by 6-4. Petra cut the number of errors in set number two and she raced into a 5-1 lead, forcing mistakes from Buzarnescu in games two and six to create a gap and clinching the set with another break in game eight, sending the match into a decider when she was the favorite now.
The Czech managed to stay away from break points and she seized the lead with a break in game four that would prove to be the crucial moment of the entire match. Everything was over when Kvitova held at 15 in game nine to celebrate her third title of the season. Final result:
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