Boris Becker congratulates Petra Kvitova for winning Miami Open title
Boris Becker congratulated Petra Kvitova for winning the 2023 Miami Open title. Kvitova beat the in-form World No. 7 Elena Rybakina, who was chasing the Sunshine Double on Saturday, in straight sets to clinch her maiden Miami Open and 30th career title on the WTA tour.
Kvitova won a marathon opening set, which was decided by a 30-point tiebreak. The Czech star then dominated the second set, rushing to a 3-0 lead before going on to register a 7-6(14), 6-2 victory. Kvitova also clinched her 9th WTA 1000 title.
German tennis great Becker took to social media to wish Kvitova over a highly successful campaign.
"Congratulations Petra," Becker wrote on Instagram.
Kvitova only dropped the solitary set en route to the title, against Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarterfinals. Reflecting on her performances throughout the Miami campaign, Kvitova felt that her serve, which is often among her biggest strengths, worked quite well all throughout the tournament due to the fast court conditions.
"I think that the serve really helped me, a little bit faster courts here with the faster balls, which I think suits my game," Kvitova said in a press conference after the match.
Kvitova, currently ranked No. 12 in the WTA rankings, will return to the Top-10 for the first time since September 2021, courtesy of Saturday's win.
Petra Kvitova believes experience helped her in Miami Open final
Petra Kvitova shed light on the importance of experience during her Miami Open final against Elena Rybakina and feels her experience of playing many finals in the past helped her. Rybakina entered the match as the favorite to win the final and thus the Sunshine Double, given her stellar form. Kvitova felt she was mentally stronger on the day knowing she had that experience.
"I think the experience today played a good role in my mind, to be honest. I played so many finals. I know I can play well in the final no matter who I'm facing. So that's I think mentally was very important for me to know that from all experience," Kvitova said on the same.
Kvitova had a torrid run during the clay-court swing last year and will now aim to use her momentum from Miami to produce a few good results on clay this season. The 33-year-old Czech is a two-time semifinalist at the French Open.