Staff Reporter.
(AP) – Twelfth-seeded veteran Petra Kvitova, in her 13th appearance at the Miami Open, finally won her first crown here, upsetting 7th-seed Elena Rybakina on Saturday with a marathon tiebreaker in a 7-6 (14), 6-2 win.
The 33-year-old Kvitova, 10 years older than her opponent, snapped Rybakina’s 13-match win streak and halted her bid to win the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami Open).
In winning with will, stalwart defense and one sensational forehand winner on the dead run that electrified the crowd in the second set, the lefty Kvitova captured her 30th WTA singles title of a distinguished career.
After Rybakina hit a forehand long on match point, Kvitova raised her arms and put her hands to her head. She was broken just once in the match. It was her 41st career WTA Finals appearance but first final in Miami.
Kvitova, who is from the Czech Republican, disagreed with the announcement Wimbledon would accept Russian players this year. Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion, is from Moscow but represents Kazakhstan.
A past Wimbledon champion, the 6-foot Kvitova won the first-set epic tiebreaker 16-14 on her fifth set point. A suddenly shaky Rybakina hit a forehand long to end the 22-minute tiebreaker; she had been undefeated at 7-0 in tiebreakers in 2023.