Radwanska Defeats Kvitova to Win WTA Finals

Agnieszka Radwanska won the biggest title of her career on Sunday, downing Petra Kvitova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to win the WTA Finals in Singapore.

It was a matchup many people did not expect to see, as both Radwanska and Kvitova dropped their opening two round-robin matches earlier in the week, but rallied to just qualify for the semifinals.

And then in the semis, Radwanska upended Garbine Muguruza and Kvitova ousted Maria Sharapova, setting up a title match between the Pole and the Czech.

It looked early on as if Radwanska would cruise, as she opened up a 6-2, 2-0 advantage. But Kvitova showed a ton of fight, winning eight of the next ten games to take the second set 6-4 and jump out to a 2-0 lead in the third and final set.

But there would be one more momentum swing in the match, as Radwanska got the break back, and won three straight games from there to win the match and secure the biggest win of her career.

“A few weeks ago I didn’t even know I’d have a chance to be here, and there you go,” said Radwanska afterwards. “It’s just an incredible day for me. It means everything. It couldn’t be any better. I think this was the biggest day in my life.”

Despite a few lapses, Radwanska played a near flawless match, committing just five unforced errors, while hitting 15 winners. She took advantage of 53 unforced errors from the big-hitting Kvitova.

“Well, the serve wasn’t a huge weapon today, there were lots of ups and downs and lots of breaks,” said Radwanska. “But in the important moments I was really doing the right things, I think. Of course, I had my chances in the second set, but it doesn’t matter how I won. I’m extremely happy about this!”

In doubles action, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza capped off their excellent 2015 season with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez-Navarro.

“On court, off court, we have a lot of fun,” said Mirza. “To play in tournaments like this is what we’ve fought all our lives and it’s incredible to play in front of a packed stadium. We feel very fortunate. We’ve done some amazing things together and it’s the perfect way to end the year for us.”