French Caroline García was crowned champion of the WTA 1,000 tournament in Cincinnati on Sunday, defeating Czech Petra Kvitova 6-2 and 6-4 in the final.
Garcia, number 35 in the world and from the rankings, needed one hour and 42 minutes to defeat Kvitova, number 28 and double Wimbledon champion in her career.
The Frenchwoman, who already defeated Kvitova in Cincinnati in 2015, won the tenth title of her career on the WTA circuit, the third in 2022 after Bad Homburg and Warsaw.
She is the fourth Frenchwoman since 1980 to break the barrier of ten titles in her record, after Amelie Mauresmo (25), Mary Pierce (18) and Julie Halard (12).
In the list of winners of this tournament, she succeeded the Australian Ashleigh Barty, who won last year against the Swiss Jil Teichmann.
Garcia, the first qualifier to reach the WTA 1,000 final since 2009, became the first to win a title on the women’s circuit by going through the qualifiers after Britain’s Emma Raducanu did it last year at the US Open.
For Kvitova, this year’s champion at Eastburne, it was the first defeat against a Frenchwoman after an eleven-match winning streak.
The Czech comes into that appointment with a balance of five wins for three losses against García, whom he defeated in Madrid and Miami in 2019.
García, who reached this final after accumulating thirteen hours on court in Cincinnati, got the match off to an aggressive start, where he quickly escaped to 4-0, taking advantage of two of his first three break points.
The 28-year-old Frenchwoman had the merit of nullifying the break opportunities afforded to Kvitova (four out of four) and took the first set solidly 6-2 in less than forty minutes.
Kvitova, who canceled out a match point in the first round against Jil Teichmann, was uncomfortable on court and was seen struggling to move towards the end of the first set.
These discomforts worsened at the start of the second, when the Czech returned to serve and, after a second game won by Garcia, sought medical attention.
He went straight to the locker room to receive therapies and returned ten minutes later to continue the competition. García tried not to lose his rhythm and continued to practice serving while waiting for his rival’s return.
Kvitova stepped up and had three break points at 2-3 in the light, but García was able to cancel them out and open the way to a 6-4 lead that gave her the crown in Cincinnati.
It was his 27th win since last June, making him the winningest player on tour in the last three months of competition.
His victory came eight days before the start of the US Open in New York.
Source: La Verdad
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