Perfect Haven for Kvitova

Petra Kvitova claimed her second title of the season by beating Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (11/9) 7-5 in the final of the WTA New Haven Open.

Former Wimbledon champion heads to US Open on a winning note

Petra Kvitova claimed her second title of the season by beating Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (11/9) 7-5 in the final of the WTA New Haven Open. The 22-year-old, Wimbledon champion in 2011, was made to work very hard by Kirilenko in a match which lasted seven minutes over two hours. The first set alone took longer than an hour and both players were broken three times before Kvitova eventually prevailed, winning a hard-fought tie-break 11-9 after her opponent had fought back from 6-4 down. Kvitova then fell 5-2 behind in set two but Kirilenko ran out of gas at that point, allowing the second seed to reel off five games in a row. "In the tie-break I just played point by point - I wasn't thinking about the score," she said afterwards. "In the end it was pretty close and I'm really glad I won it." "After that, I was down physically, without energy," she said. "It seemed like I was walking, not running. I made a lot of mistakes and went 5-2 down -- but then I tried not to think about my shots or tactics and started putting the ball into the court more." Kvitova now heads to the US Open on a winning note - she is the fifth seed for the fial major of 2012 and will begin her bid for glory against Polona Hercog.