Kvitova beats Rybakina and conquers Miami

There will be time for the new advances, today is the day of the indestructible Petra Kvitova. The champion from Miami is precisely the 33-year-old Czech, who snatched from the hands of Elena Rybakina, her challenger in the final, the possibility of completing the Sunshine Double, the consecutive victory of the WTA 1000 on hard courts in Indian Wells and Miami. An extraordinary success, like the technical level of the final, enhanced by a thriller tie-break and finished 7-6(14), 6-2 in 1h 42′. For Kvitova it is the 30th title in her career (only Venus Williams, 49, has more among active players), the most prestigious since she was crowned queen of Madrid in 2018. A return in style, which will be sealed by the return in Top 10 at rankings update, Monday.

Generational clash

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It was the fifth time in the last six years that two rookies met on the hard rock of Hard Rock Stadium for the final in Miami. Woe to talking about newbies, though. 33-year-old Kvitova was in her 41st career final; on the other hand, she found a girl (n.7 in the world) 10 years younger, but who is learning to know the biggest scenarios quickly, present in all three of the most coveted finals at the beginning of 2023.

The match

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It was a perfect finish to produce highligts. There is little and fast exchange, the winners shoot away from one side to the other, the service is a technical refuge for both. Rybakina, by the way, became the player with the most aces in a single 1000 tournament and the first to score more than 10 aces in six consecutive games since Serena Williams at Wimbledon 2015, but she is the first to break in the eighth game , repaying immediately with the same coin in the ninth. We go to the tie-break: for the spectators it is great news. It’s not often you see one finish 16-14, and the score accurately suggests the amount of spectacle and drama experienced at Hard Rock Stadium in those 30 points. She could have finished either way, but after five set points each, cheers from the crowd in and out of the exchanges and contested electronic hawk calls, it was Petra Kvitova who came out on top. Rybakina, accustomed to playing with fire in important points, has the task of reflecting on how to deal with them. And how she reacted in the second set, in which Kvitova took over on the wings of enthusiasm. After the first set, the Czech immediately puts in three games in a row, pocketing enough booty to secure a trophy. Or rather, that is enough for those who, like her, have learned two or three things about how to face a final during her career. She paddles in the air, arms in the air, an incredulous smile. “It’s a surprise to have reached the final,” she said yesterday. Today, Elena Rybakina suffered the surprise: the new advance will have to wait a little longer.