Picture Credit: Twitter
Petra Kvitova, the Czech tennis star, won her first Miami Open women’s singles title as she defeated her much-fancied opponent Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan 7-6(16-14), 6-2. This was Kvitova’s ninth WTA 1000 championship win and the first in 5 years after the Madrid Open in 2018.
Although, there was a slight delay to the beginning of this title match as Mike Tyson, one of the greatest professional boxers in the history arrived late at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens to witness the occasion in person. Elena Rybakina was seen waiting for all the spectators to sit down at the insistence of the umpire before kicking off the final.
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The title match in Miami was very competitive, especially in the first set, as both Rybakina and Kvitova were exchanging long rallies and putting each other under constant pressure to hit winners. The first set eventually went to a tiebreak which lasted for 22 minutes as Kvitova converted the 5th set point after Rybakina miscued a forehand straight into the net.
Afterwards, the second set had a completely different story as Kvitova stormed into an early 3-0 lead. She then finished off the challenge of Rybakina with a third break of serve and won her maiden women’s singles title in Miami after 12 failed attempts.