Kvitova caps comeback with Birmingham title

Petra Kvitova capped a magnificent week in Birmingham with a three-set defeat of Ash Barty in a high-quality final on Sunday.

It was a heart-warming result, with this being just Kvitova’s second tournament back after she was the victim of a knife attack that damaged her playing hand in December 2016.

The two-time Wimbledon champion was playing a relative novice in Barty, a 21-year-old Aussie playing in her first grasscourt final and first WTA Premier-level decider.

But despite the disparity in experience, Barty proved a worth opponent and pushed Kvitova all the way before the Czech raced away in a blaze of winners to win 4-6 6-3 6-2.

“I like to play finals on grass. I wish I could have more. I won’t be sad if it is in a couple of weeks (at Wimbledon) but there is still a lot of work to be done,” Kvitova said

“It was an amazing week, an amazing tournament. From my first hits on the grass I felt great, it was encouraging to get into the grass season.”

Barty began brightly with a break in the third game, and it was all she needed to keep her nose in front and take the first set against the erratic Kvitova, who mixed aces and powerful winners with double faults and errors.

Yet the second set took a turn towards the Czech when Kvitova broke in the second game after some errors from Barty, which until that point had been largely absent from her game.

Kvitova surged to a 5-1 lead before Barty rallied, breaking serve and then holding to close the gap to 5-3.

Yet Kvitova, helped by two aces in the ninth game, served it out on her second attempt to send the match into a third.

Take a bow @Petra_Kvitova @ashbar96.

35 winners for Kvitova. #AegonClassichttps://t.co/HNk6cWzwAX pic.twitter.com/7d3Cq55rVd

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) June 25, 2017

With her confidence growing, Kvitova was now in full flight, producing an increasing volume of winners and breaking the Australian in the first game of the third.

Barty, after some incredible defence on a point that ended when Kvitova fired an overhead long, recovered the break, but from 40-0 up in the fifth game at 2-2, the Queenslander would win just one more point.

Kvitova clicked into a higher gear and the winners flowed off her racquet – she finished the one hour, 47 minute contest with 35, to Barty’s 14.