Kvitova takes Wuhan Open title, also WTA Finals qualification

The third-seeded Petra Kvitova outplayed sixth-seeded Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets to grab the 2.4-million-dollar inaugural Wuhan Open on Saturday, also secured the Czech's place for the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Kvitova had won the pair's only two previous meetings handily both in straight sets, including a 55-minute, 6-3, 6-0 drubbing in the Wimbledon final this summer, and she did it again this time, breaking early in both sets and hanging onto those breaks to win in 6-3, 6-4.

Kvitova originally led by a double break in the second set 5-2 and had a match point in that game, but missed a backhand into the net. She lost that second break but still rode the first one to victory.

The match statistics weighed heavily in Kvitova's favor, as she put together an impressive 30 winners to 18 unforced errors, while Bouchard finished with just 12 winners to an unfavorable 16 unforced errors.

Kvitova also converted on three of her five break point opportunities, Bouchard turned out only one of eight.

This was Kvitova's third WTA title of the year, having already won Wimbledon and New Haven. It was the 14th WTA title of her career, 11 of those 14 WTA titles are at the Premier level or higher.

And the Czech is now the fourth player to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore, following Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep. Four spots remain in the elite eight singles field.

"It's been a great week," Bouchard said in the award ceremony. "First of all, of course, I have to congratulate Petra. She's beaten me in two finals this year, so I will have to figure out what to do to beat her now!

"I felt like I played really well this week. And the crowd really made me feel at home. Also, this was the first year of this tournament, but it felt like you've been doing this for 100 years, it was so great," added the Canadian, who also made the last four at the French and Australia Open.

"It was my first time in Wuhan and I love it. I kind of want to come back in my off-season."

Kvitova also exchanged congratulations to Bouchard. "Congratulations to Genie," she said. "We always have great matches, and I wish you the best of luck for Singapore too. And this was the first tournament ever for Wuhan, but it was a great week here.

"Also, I know everybody wished to have Li Na here standing with us, but we will remember her with this trophy. I'm just glad she's happy now; I hope she's going to be happy for the rest of her life."

Both of the finalists here will next move to China Open, which has already kicked off on Saturday in Beijing and will mostly decides the remaining four spots for the WTA Finals.