Petra Kvitova Takes Down New #1 Kim Clijsters In Open GDF Suez Final

Petra Kvitova announced her arrival as a challenger for top honors this year by thoroughly outplaying new world #1 Kim Clijsters in the final of the Open GDF Suez, 6-4 6-3. As I have been saying, Kim has been getting off to slow starts in matches, pulling them out in comeback fashion. Eventually, she will run into opponents that will make her pay for starting off slowly, who won’t let her get back into the match and pull away. Kvitova was just that opponent.

“I’m very happy to win my second title of the year, and it doesn’t get much better than beating the new No.1 in the final,” Kvitova said. “I thought I played very well. I played my game, fast and aggressive, as I couldn’t let her dominate. It’s very special to defeat Kim in the final. I’d like to thank my team and I would like to dedicate this victory to my grandfather, who passed away last week.”

There was some talk of Clijsters having a bad neck in this match, but you cannot make excuses when you lose. To her credit, Kim made no excuses and stated the truth, Petra just outplayed her.

“My opponent was just better today,” Clijsters said. “I couldn’t play my best because she put so much pressure on me. I had to go for it because if I put it in her hitting zone, she was dominating. If she continues to play like that, she will be Top 10 before long. She is so much fitter and moves better than last year.”