Kvitova powers past Svitolina to claim WTA Elite title

(Reuters) – Petra Kvitova overcame a poor start to win the season-ending WTA Elite trophy with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Elina Svitolina in Zhuhai, China on Sunday.

Kvitova began slowly and trailed 4-1 in the opening set after struggling to hold serve and making a string of unforced errors.

The big-hitting Czech, however, eventually found her range with her first serve and cranked up the aggression to win the next five games in quick succession and wrap up the opening set.

Kvitova carried her momentum into the second, sweeping aside her Ukrainian opponent to secure victory in one hour and 10 minutes.

“She played a little bit more aggressively than me in the beginning of the match. So I was trying to get the rhythm to play a little bit more aggressively,” Kvitova told reporters, after wrapping up a sixth straight win over Svitolina.

The WTA Elite trophy is a year-end event involving the 12 highest ranked women who did not qualify to play at the WTA Finals in Singapore last week.

Kvitova, who has never been higher than two in the world rankings, said she had been inspired by Angelique Kerber’s rise to the top, and also congratulated newly-crowned men’s number one Andy Murray.

“The number one spot is still missing in my career. I know how difficult it is. We just saw how Angie did it. It’s a great thing to have for sure,” the twice Wimbledon champion said.

“I told him (Murray) congratulations because I think it’s a great achievement. I think he did everything he possibly could to be there, so I’m really happy for him.”

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)