Twelfth-seeded Petra Kvitova upset seventh-seed Elena Rybakina in a 7-6 (14), 6-2 victory on Saturday to win the 2023 Miami Open title. Ten years older than her opponent, the 33-year-old Kvitova snapped her opponent’s 13-match winning streak to win the Sunshine Double – both the Miami Open and Indian Wells titles.

Kvitova, who has appeared in 41 WTA finals in her career, has won 30 WTA titles. This is her first championship victory since 2018, when she won the Mutua Madrid Open.

“I take it as a positive I can still play with the best,” Kvitova stated after her win. “I take pride, even at my age, I could win big tournaments.”

The Czech national went on to express her disbelief at the 16-14 tiebreaker that she won in the first set, confirming it to be the longest of her career. Rybakina, on the other hand, admitted that she had begun suffering from fatigue as the match wore on.

On Sunday, Daniil Medvedev will come up against Jannik Sinner in the men’s singles final.

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Japan’s Naomi Osaka persevered a comeback scare to beat Czech’s Petra Kvitova to lift the Australia Open title in a thrilling final on Saturday.

Osaka, 21, shed tears after overcoming the energetic Kvitova to win the match 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-4. Both stars came off different pasts. Osaka was eyeing her second Grand Slam win following her contentious win over Serena Williams last September. The Czech, on the other hand, hoped to win a major title two years after facing a scary knife attack.

“Hello. Sorry, public speaking isn’t my strong point so I hope I can get this,” – Osaka said in her acceptance speech. “I read notes before this but I still forgot what I was meant to say. Thank you everyone, I am really honored to have played in this final.”

Despite the knife attack incident that happened two years ago, Kvitova played resiliently throughout the tournament. In the finals, she came from behind to win the second set. Unfortunate for her, Osaka had regained by that time and initiated a comfortable third set win.

With the Grand Slam, Osaka is only the first player to win back to back major titles since American Jennifer Capriatti did it in 2001. On Monday, she will also be confirmed as the new World No.1 after beating Romania’s Simona Halep for the position.

The post Naomi Osaka beats Petra Kvitova to Win Australia Open Women’s Title appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Danielle Collins’ dream of winning the Australia Open came to a cruising end Thursday morning when two time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova overpowered her 7-6, 6-0 to advance to the finals.

“It means everything,” – Kvitova said of advancing into the finals. “I worked very hard to be again in the final of a major and finally I’ve made it deep at this major.”

Collins, 25, is a two time NCAA champion at the University of Virginia. On Thursday, her hopes of becoming the first collegiate to win a Grand Slam since fellow American Kathy Jordan accomplished the fete in 1983. However, she didn’t leave the tournament without a record as she equaled Meredith McGrath’s record of becoming the first collegian to reach a Grand Slam semifinals.

As good as Collins’ story to this year’s Australia Open semis is, it’s her opponent Kvitova who had the better night. In 2016, she was repeatedly stabbed in her playing left hand and offered no guarantees of a return to tennis after the incident.

She reached the quarters at the US Open in 2017 but she now has the chance to clinch a major title. The Czech native will face Japan’s Naomi Osaka who beat Karolina Pliskova in straight sets.

The post Australia Open: Petra Kvitova beats American Danielle Collins appeared first on SportzBonanza.

2018 Wimbledon delivered its first shocks on Tuesday, when Maria Sharapova, 2004 Wimbledon winner, was eliminated in the first round of the tournament by fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko. Two times Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was also handed an early exit by Belarus Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Sharapova won the first set 7-6(3), but then lost the following two 6-7(3), 4-6. This was the first time that Maria Sharapova lost in the first round of Wimbledon, being 13-0 so far. It was also the first time since the 2010 Australian Open that she lost an opening round of a major tournament.

“I definitely had several chances in the match,” – said Sharapova in a news conference after the match. “Although not playing my best tennis, I opened up a few doors and was a couple points away from winning this match.”

“Sometimes you put yourself in a better or winning position, and you don’t finish through. That was the case today.” – she added.

Entering the 2018 Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova was ranked 22nd on WTA Singles rankings, while Vitalia Diatchenko was 122nd, which makes Sharapova’s loss even more surprising. Diatchenko will now face American Sofia Kenin, who is currently ranked 76th, in the second round of the tournament.

Another surprise was delivered by Aliaksandra Sasnovich, ranked 50th in the world, who managed to defeat 7th ranked Petra Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. Before the start of 2018 Wimbledon, Kvitova had a tour-leading 38 victories this season.

The post Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova Eliminated in the First Round of 2018 Wimbledon appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Twelfth-seeded Petra Kvitova upset seventh-seed Elena Rybakina in a 7-6 (14), 6-2 victory on Saturday to win the 2023 Miami Open title. Ten years older than her opponent, the 33-year-old Kvitova snapped her opponent’s 13-match winning streak to win the Sunshine Double – both the Miami Open and Indian Wells titles.

Kvitova, who has appeared in 41 WTA finals in her career, has won 30 WTA titles. This is her first championship victory since 2018, when she won the Mutua Madrid Open.

“I take it as a positive I can still play with the best,” Kvitova stated after her win. “I take pride, even at my age, I could win big tournaments.”

The Czech national went on to express her disbelief at the 16-14 tiebreaker that she won in the first set, confirming it to be the longest of her career. Rybakina, on the other hand, admitted that she had begun suffering from fatigue as the match wore on.

On Sunday, Daniil Medvedev will come up against Jannik Sinner in the men’s singles final.

The post Petra Kvitova Wins Miami Open appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Japan’s Naomi Osaka persevered a comeback scare to beat Czech’s Petra Kvitova to lift the Australia Open title in a thrilling final on Saturday.

Osaka, 21, shed tears after overcoming the energetic Kvitova to win the match 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-4. Both stars came off different pasts. Osaka was eyeing her second Grand Slam win following her contentious win over Serena Williams last September. The Czech, on the other hand, hoped to win a major title two years after facing a scary knife attack.

“Hello. Sorry, public speaking isn’t my strong point so I hope I can get this,” – Osaka said in her acceptance speech. “I read notes before this but I still forgot what I was meant to say. Thank you everyone, I am really honored to have played in this final.”

Despite the knife attack incident that happened two years ago, Kvitova played resiliently throughout the tournament. In the finals, she came from behind to win the second set. Unfortunate for her, Osaka had regained by that time and initiated a comfortable third set win.

With the Grand Slam, Osaka is only the first player to win back to back major titles since American Jennifer Capriatti did it in 2001. On Monday, she will also be confirmed as the new World No.1 after beating Romania’s Simona Halep for the position.

The post Naomi Osaka beats Petra Kvitova to Win Australia Open Women’s Title appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Danielle Collins’ dream of winning the Australia Open came to a cruising end Thursday morning when two time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova overpowered her 7-6, 6-0 to advance to the finals.

“It means everything,” – Kvitova said of advancing into the finals. “I worked very hard to be again in the final of a major and finally I’ve made it deep at this major.”

Collins, 25, is a two time NCAA champion at the University of Virginia. On Thursday, her hopes of becoming the first collegiate to win a Grand Slam since fellow American Kathy Jordan accomplished the fete in 1983. However, she didn’t leave the tournament without a record as she equaled Meredith McGrath’s record of becoming the first collegian to reach a Grand Slam semifinals.

As good as Collins’ story to this year’s Australia Open semis is, it’s her opponent Kvitova who had the better night. In 2016, she was repeatedly stabbed in her playing left hand and offered no guarantees of a return to tennis after the incident.

She reached the quarters at the US Open in 2017 but she now has the chance to clinch a major title. The Czech native will face Japan’s Naomi Osaka who beat Karolina Pliskova in straight sets.

The post Australia Open: Petra Kvitova beats American Danielle Collins appeared first on SportzBonanza.

2018 Wimbledon delivered its first shocks on Tuesday, when Maria Sharapova, 2004 Wimbledon winner, was eliminated in the first round of the tournament by fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko. Two times Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was also handed an early exit by Belarus Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Sharapova won the first set 7-6(3), but then lost the following two 6-7(3), 4-6. This was the first time that Maria Sharapova lost in the first round of Wimbledon, being 13-0 so far. It was also the first time since the 2010 Australian Open that she lost an opening round of a major tournament.

“I definitely had several chances in the match,” – said Sharapova in a news conference after the match. “Although not playing my best tennis, I opened up a few doors and was a couple points away from winning this match.”

“Sometimes you put yourself in a better or winning position, and you don’t finish through. That was the case today.” – she added.

Entering the 2018 Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova was ranked 22nd on WTA Singles rankings, while Vitalia Diatchenko was 122nd, which makes Sharapova’s loss even more surprising. Diatchenko will now face American Sofia Kenin, who is currently ranked 76th, in the second round of the tournament.

Another surprise was delivered by Aliaksandra Sasnovich, ranked 50th in the world, who managed to defeat 7th ranked Petra Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. Before the start of 2018 Wimbledon, Kvitova had a tour-leading 38 victories this season.

The post Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova Eliminated in the First Round of 2018 Wimbledon appeared first on SportzBonanza.