Czech Petra Kvitova lifted the Zhuhai WTA Elite trophy after overcoming Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-2.

Kvitova suffered a slow start and was broken in the fourth game. With 1-4 down, she quickly found the rhythm and swept five games in a row, reports Xinhua.

Also Read: ‘Sharapova will be back in WTA rankings after 3 tournaments next year’

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The Czech dominated the second set by breaking Svitolina three times.

“I played her in Wuhan and I was broken down there as well from the beginning of the match. I just probably knew that it’s still not the end, so I was just trying to play point by point,” Kvitova said after the match.

IANS

Debutante Dominika Cibulkova defeated World No.1 Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to win the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, while Russian pair of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova beat the American-Czech duo of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova 7-6(5), 6-3 for the doubles title on Sunday.

Slovakia’s Cibulkova opened the match with a blistering start, going up 3-0 against Germany’s Kerber. Although the German fought back, the Slovakian seemed to dominate the match, ending the first set 6-3, reports Xinhua.

With a huge roar, Kerber led 2-1 at the very first stage of the second set. However, she continued to struggle with her rhythm as Cibulkova showed consistent power.

Also Read: ‘Sharapova will be back in WTA rankings after 3 tournaments next year’

The Slovakian finally got tight, putting in two nervous points at 15-40, and Kerber played incredible defense. However, a bad return miss from Kerber at deuce gave Cibulkova the emotional victory.

Cibulkova said that no words can describe her feeling after the victory. “Coming here for the time and winning the biggest tournament for my life. I just remembered the match point, I put the ball over the net, it was the happiest moment in my life,” she said.

Cibulkova noted that it was not easy to go on the court, but the newly-crowned champion thought she was mentally very strong.

“I just knew I played well. In the first two matches, I was a little bit unlucky, and today you could see, I was really lucky in the end,” said Cibulkova with a smile on her face.

Kerber told the press that she is little bit disappointed after the loss, but she gave everything.

“It was a tough year with a lot of matches, so I gave everything on court today, the rest energy I had left. Of course when I’m looking back it’s one of my best years. I think when I will go home now I will just think about the best moments and the positive emotions,” said the German.

As the year-end top four has already confirmed — Kerber, Serena, Radwanska and Halep, Cibulkova’s ranking rose to number five after winning the match.

In the match for doubles title, Vesnina and Makarova defeated Mattek-Sands and Safarova 7-6(5), 6-3 after one hour and 38 minutes.

“It was such a great match. It was really a pleasure to play against Bethanie and Lucie and to be honest we really enjoyed playing it,” Vesnina said after the match.

“We weren’t sure until the very end that we were going to win it. It was a really, really close match.”

IANS

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, currently suspended on doping-related charges, will return to the singles rankings following her performance at three tournaments next year, a senior official with the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) said on Monday.

According to the new rankings released by the Women Tennis Association (WTA) on Monday, the former World No.1 dropped out of the global top-100 female tennis players, reports Efe.

Also Read: Sharapova’s doping ban reduced to 15 months by CAS

“Sharapova’s departure from the WTA rankings list is a matter of technical detail,” RTF Vice President Alexei Selivanenko said.

“She needs to take part in at least three tournaments in order to regain her stance in the ranking list.”

“She lost the minimal required quota (to stay in the ranking list) of three tournaments since she had not played since the beginning of this year,” Selivanenko added.

“However, she will resume playing next year and, as soon she competes in three tournaments, she will be back in the ranking list. There are no doubts that she will be granted wild cards from tournaments’ organisers and she will return to the ranking list.”

Sharapova has been allowed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to play in exhibition matches before her ban expires.

She has been serving a two-year suspension for violation of anti-doping regulations since January 26. However, the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled October 4 to reduce her suspension term from 24 to 15 months.

The right-handed player is now eligible to officially return to the tennis courts from April 26 next year.

In early March, Sharapova was told that her doping tests revealed the presence of performance enhancing drug Meldonium in her body system. Following the announcement, she was provisionally suspended from all tennis-related activities.

Sharapova filed an appeal with the CAS on June 9 against her two-year suspension, which was officially announced on June 8 by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Tribunal over anti-doping violations.

Due to the ban the silver medallist at the 2012 Olympic Games in London had to miss the 2016 Rio Games in August.

IANS

Caroline Wozniacki defeated Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Sunday. 

Wozniacki has now won a title in every season since 2008. The Dane received treatment for a thigh injury during the final said later that she’s enjoying her tennis at the moment. 

The 26-year-old Wozniacki, a former World No.1, needed an hour and 45 minutes to beat the tenacious Osaka, who enjoyed the support of the crowd.

Wozniacki, currently World No.28, used her experience to get the edge on the 18-year-old Osaka, who failed to convert on break opportunities, at key points in the match.

IANS