Petra Kvitova wins record third Madrid Open title

TIL Desk Sports/ Petra Kvitova outlasted the unseeded Kiki Bertens to win a thrilling Madrid Open final on Saturday 7-6(8-6), 4-6, 6-3 and become the first player to lift the trophy for a third time.

Czech Kvitova, ranked 10th in the world, struck the first blow in a tense match which lasted two hours 52 minutes by edging the tie-break at the end of a gruelling 75-minute first set, taking advantage of a third set point when Bertens found the net.

The Dutchwoman had beaten Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova in a sparkling week in the Spanish capital to reach her first premier mandatory final and recovered well from surrendering the first set to take the second.

She led by a break in the third but let her advantage slip and Kvitova broke twice in a row to take a 4-2 lead in the decider. Bertens broke back to make it 4-3 but lost her next service game and Kvitova served out the final game to love, sealing victory when Bertens hit the tramlines with a backhand.

In doing so, she took her landmark third title, surpassing the two each won by Serena Williams and Simona Halep in Madrid, which established a women’s section in 2009. “Everything what I had in my body, I just tried to put it out, even if it was very, very tough today,” Kvitova said.