2014 Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova edged the tightest of encounters against compatriot Karolina Pliskova 76(5) 76(6) to win the fifteenth title of her career and her first in Sydney.
Most players had already gotten their tennis season underway last week, so Sydney was a prime location for the top players to brush up their final act ahead of the Australian Open the following week. The Premier level stop had six top ten players in action;
Rank/Seed Name (Nationality/Previous best Sydney result)
3/1 Simona Halep (Romania/First round 2014)
4/2 Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic/Semi final 2012/2014)
6/3 Agnieszska Radwanska (Poland/Champion 2013)
8/4 Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark/Quarter final 2009/2012)
9/5 Angelique Kerber (Germany/Finalist 2013)
10/6 Ekaterina Makarova (Russia/Second round 2013/2014)
Early in the week, the tournament suffered when two of its top names, Halep and Wozniacki were forced to withdraw. Both players were heading in behind impressive results last week, Halep having won Shenzhen and Wozniacki losing the Auckland final to Venus Williams. However, neither could physically make the transition in Australia. During the first round, Wozniacki had initially led 3-0 in a repeat of last week's semi final against Czech, Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, before a left wrist injury forced her to retire down 46 1-1. Halep never took to the court having received a first round bye, citing gastroenteritis as the reason.
The second round didn't go much better for the top ten. Radwanska, now coached by legend Martina Navratilova, failed to back up a sensational week at the Hopman Cup in Perth. There she had beaten the likes of Serena Williams in assisting her partner, ATP pro Jerzy Janowicz to the mixed title. Despite avenging a defeat at the exhibition against France's Alize Cornet 63 62 in the first round, she ultimately succumbed to the power play of fast rising Garbine Muguruza of Spain 36 76(4) 62, who closed out the match with her tenth and eleventh aces of the day. Makarova meanwhile was playing her first event as a top ten player. The US Open semi finalist had started surprisingly well in her first outing of the year, beating last week's Brisbane semi finalist Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 76(1) 62. However, as had happened at the same stage last year, Makarova fell foul of Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 46 61 64.
Kvitova also had a tough time adjusting, coming in off a semi final defeat in Shenzhen and receiving a bye. The US Open semi finalist Peng Shuai of China proved tricky, Kvitova winning 61 75 whilst the Australian, Jarmila Gajdosova was a point away from a 5-3 lead in the third set before choking with nerves, Kvitova edging it out 46 63 64. The semi final also spelt trouble against Bulgarian, Tsvetana Pironkova who was not only a qualifier but also the defending Sydney champion in a bizarre twist. In 2014, Pironkova had qualified and beaten Kvitova in the semis en route to the title. One year on, she looked to do the same, looking good early on as she took an early break with Kvitova struggling to return the painfully slow second serve of her opponent. However, once she'd found her range and timing, Kvitova raced away, barely losing a point on her serve to win 75 61 and finally reach the Sydney final, in the process, snapping Pironkova's fourteen match winning streak at the event.
Meanwhile, the statuesque Karolina Pliskova was making quiet progress, hitting four successive aces to close out Suarez Navarro 46 64 60 in the quarter finals. Angelique Kerber awaited her in the semis after having recovered from some dismal starts to beat Ukrainian, Lesia Tsurenko 16 64 63, Australian, Daria Gavrilova 67(6) 76(2) 63 at gone 3am and Muguruza 06 61 64! Unsurprisingly, she had little left in the tank against Pliskova and offered token resistance. Still, it hardly would have mattered. In her first Premier level semi final, Pliskova was sublime, hitting thirty two winners (including seven aces) to just ten unforced errors, whilst facing no break points. Having saved match point to beat Victoria Azarenka last week in Brisbane, she was scared of success, fittingly hitting a bounce smash winner to close out a 63 62 win, her second in a row against the German after having beaten her in Nuremburg 2014.
The final was always going to be close as it pitted two big hitting, Czech team mates against one another. Kvitova hadn't lost to a compatriot since Madrid 2012 and had the benefit of experience, considering Pliskova had won only three International tournaments in her career. However, in their only previous meeting, Petra had scraped through 64 in the third at Wuhan last October. As expected, the final was a battle of serving prowess as neither player offered their opponent too many opportunities. The first set saw Kvitova recover from yet another sluggish start, only breaking Pliskova's serve when she served for the first set at 5-3. Here, Kvitova's experience told as she took charge of the points, as opposed to Pliskova, who waited for errors which never came. Early in the second, when Kvitova had taken a 3-1 lead, all looked lost. However, Pliskova showed fighting spirit, winning three successive games and mixing up the play nicely with some uncharacteristic sliced forehands and net rushes. Still, Kvitova was ready in the clutch moments, holding serve emphatically at both 4-5 and 5-6 to enforce the tiebreak, which she won despite having let a 5-1 lead nervously dissipate to 5-5 parity.
In the end, Kvitova's extra aggression paid dividends as she hit thirty eight winners to opponents twenty, despite committing thirty unforced errors compared to Pliskova's twenty one. Perhaps surprisingly, she also 'out aced' Pliskova nine to seven, proving that on her day, Kvitova is undoubtedly, Queen of the Czechs.
