NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, (Reuters) – Petra Kvitova used a dominant serve to beat Lucie Safarova 6-7(6) 6-2 6-2 in their all-Czech final at the Connecticut Open yesterday.
Kvitova faced only one break point and held serve throughout to remain unbeaten in seven career matches against her compatriot.
The second seed collected her 17th WTA title and her third in New Haven after victories in 2012 and 2014.
After a lost summer during which she was slowed by a bout of mononucleosis, Kvitova will head to the U.S. Open next week with new confidence.
Kvitova and fourth seed Safarova, left-handers born less than 150-km apart, wore identical outfits — red skirt, white top and red headband. They even had matching wristbands.
And there was little to separate them in the first set as both held serve easily before Safarova prevailed in the tiebreak.
But Safarova, who did not face a break point in the first set, could not maintain her hot start and it was all Kvitova from then on as the world number five triumphed in a match that lasted two hours 18 minutes.
