TENNIS WTA BEIJING – Maria Sharapova won her first title on hard courts since Indian Wells 2013 beating Petra Kvitova 6-4 2-6 6-3 in the final of Beijing’s WTA Premier mandatory.
The Russian started off slowly, overwhelmed by the pace of the Czech’s shots, but thanks to a great performance with the serve and a too erratic opponent, she came back from a break down to size the first set.
Kvitova started the match showing the best of her repertoire by hitting hard and finding angles, but from 3-1 up, she suffered a visible drop in her consistency, also thanks to the resistance of Sharapova’s defence.
Sharapova raised the quality of her serve, especially with smart body serves on the second serve, so the Czech started to feel all the pressure on her service games.
Kvitova managed to stop the streak of Russian to tie at 4-4, but she got broken once more in the last game of the opening set.
The effort to come back took its toll on Sharapova, who suddenly started to move not as well and hit few errors, which gave the chance to Kvitova to end the points faster and so dictate her game.
Thanks to a more aggressive attitude and better returns, the Czech player found the confidence she needed to take more risks and break the Russian’s serve three times in a row to take the second set and take the make to the decider.
Sharapova, however, managed to shift the momentum, also thanks to the usual bathroom break she exploits when things are not going her way.
The seven minute long break helped the Russian to regroup her thoughts and come back on court with a much clearer idea on how to move her opponent and neutralize her power.
The first game appeared to be crucial, when Sharapova still looked vulnerable, but Kvitova missed an easy backhand down the line on 30-30 and the Russian took courage and then flew to a 3-0 lead.
Sharapova, who had not dropped a set in the whole tournament before the final, missed her first match point opportunity at 5-2 with an inside out forehand into the net but she served out the match to love at 5-3 with a big serve which Kvitova returned with her backhand into the net.
The Siberian star claims her fourth title of the year after Stuttgart, Madrid and the Roland Garros, and the first since her triumph at the Roland Garros last June.
Sharapova, who has clinched her career 33nd title, overtakes Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova in the WTA Ranking ahead of the WTA Finals in Singapore.
