For almost the entirety of Petra Kvitova’s storied 17-year career, the hard courts of the Miami Open have played slowly in humid Floridian weather, conditions entirely unsuited to the best fast-court player of her generation. In her 12 previous Miami Open appearances, she had never passed the quarter-finals.
But this year, the courts have been unusually fast, infusing Kvitova’s vicious lefty serve and nuclear groundstrokes with even more pace. She has ruthlessly taken advantage of the more favourable conditions and on Saturday afternoon the 15th seed closed off nine days of vintage ball-striking by outmuscling Elena Rybakina, the 10th seed, 7-6 (14), 6-2.
By winning the title for the first time, she ended Rybakina’s 13-match winning streak and her pursuit of the “sunshine double”, Indian Wells and Miami, at the final stage.
After ample struggles in this autumn of her career, including falling out of the top 30 last season, as many questioned whether she would keep playing for much longer, Miami marks the 33-year-old’s first WTA 1000 title since 2018 and ninth overall. Most notably, this is a milestone 30th career title for Kvitova, the highest tally among her generation. Among active women players, only Venus Williams has won more titles.
The first three months of the season has underlined a shift in the tour. After years of defence-based players populating the top ranks of the women’s tour, first-strike tennis now rules. Kvitova has long exemplified the ethos of uncompromising big hitting and her comfort in the match-up against Rybakina, another of the biggest shotmakers in the world, was immediately clear.
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Eight games into the final, the average rally length stood at just three shots as both players served well and attacked as early as possible. They converged in a marathon 20-minute tiebreak, the momentum constantly swinging as Kvitova saved five set points before converting her fifth. With the first set secured, Kvitova relaxed, striking the ball freely and serving spotlessly until the end.
“Elena didn’t lose a tiebreak [this year],” she told Amazon Prime. “I had it in my mind and I said: ‘She has to lose at some point!’
“So I kept going. The balls afterwards were so fluffy and didn’t fly at all. I’m lucky. I had to be a little bit more aggressive, which I had been in the end, but during the tiebreak I struggled.”
Having won her first of two Wimbledon titles 12 years ago, Kvitova has steadily built a hall of fame career, even recovering from a serious knife attack in 2016 to re-establish herself as one of the best tennis players in the world. It has not been without its struggles, her high-risk ball-striking also leading to many early losses. But even as her peers have retired, Kvitova’s reputation as one of the most dangerous and unpredictable players in the world endures.
“I think nobody really expected this,” she said. “Not me, not my team, I would say. I really enjoyed this sunshine double – already in Indian Wells I got in good form. I’m happy I’m injury free and, oh my God, I made it.”
