Emotional Agnieszka Radwanska claims WTA Finals title with narrow win against Petra Kvitova
Pole triumphs in absorbing encounter with Czech in season-ending tennis showpiece in Singapore
An emotional Agnieszka Radwanska claimed her maiden WTA Finals title with a roller-coaster 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Czech Petra Kvitova in an absorbing encounter in Singapore on Sunday.
Playing a first final in her seventh appearance at the season-ending event, the sixth-ranked Pole also created history by becoming the first woman to lift the title after completing round-robin play with a 1-2 record.
It means everything to me... in my first final, I get my first win so it couldn't be any better
"A few weeks ago I didn't even know I would be here," said a tearful Radwanska.
"I was doing the right thing in the important moments of a really close match, I had my chances in the second set but it doesn't really matter how I won," the Pole added.
In stark contrast to her semi-final victory over Maria Sharapova, Kvitova made a lacklustre start to the match with a sloppy opening service game, handing her opponent an immediate break as she got off to the worst possible start.
The double Wimbledon champion finally got on the scoreboard in the third game but Radwanska was able to wrap up a dominant set in 33 minutes with another routine hold.
Radwanska carried that momentum into the first game of the second set, running down everything and breaking the Czech with an unreturnable backhand volley at the net and consolidating her advantage with a solid hold to win her third game in a row.
Her efforts bore fruit three games later when the powerful left-hander forged her first break point of the contest and levelled at 3-3.
An easy hold put her ahead for the first time in the set and suddenly the crowd had a contest to watch after Radwanska's march to victory was halted and Kvitova completed the comeback with a second consecutive break to set up a decider.
The pair traded a pair of breaks apiece to remain deadlocked at 3-3 in the decider.
Radwanska dug deep once more and forged another break before holding to leave her one game away from the biggest victory of her career, ending Kvitova's resistance on her first match point when the Czech committed her 53rd unforced error.
"It means everything to me... in my first final, I get my first win so it couldn't be any better," Radwanska said.
