By Chris Oddo | Friday September 30, 2016
Who: [14] Petra Kvitova vs. [10] Dominika Cibulkova
Where: Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, Wuhan, China
Head-to-Head: Kvitova leads, 4-2
Career Record in Finals:
Cibulkova: 6-9
Kvitova: 17-6
Record in 2016:
Cibulkova: 44-17 (28-13 hardcourts)
Kvitova: 35-18 (25-11 hardcourts)
The Skinny: Petra Kvitova has reclaimed her missing game in Wuhan. The 2014 defending champion plowed past Simona Halep in the semis and she has now won 19 of her last 24 since the beginning of her hardcourt season at Montreal.
Finally, Kvitova has reached her first final of 2016, and she has done so in style. She knocked off World No. 1 Angelique Kerber in the round of 16 in three hour and 20-minute epic, then raced past Konta in the quarters and Halep in the semis without dropping a set. Fans have been waiting for Kvitova to display this type of form all season, and now that she’s done it, the question will be whether or not she can keep it up.
Kvitova can climb back to No. 11 in the world with the title, and she’d officially be labeled the queen of Wuhan as well. The 26-year-old won this title in its inaugural year when she defeated Eugenie Bouchard in the final.
Kvitova has summoned all this magic without a coach this week. After working for a week on trial with the former coach of Simona Halep and Victoria Azarenka, Wim Fissette, the Czech is going it alone, saying that she needs time to think about who is going to be her next coach.
Meanwhile, Dominika Cibulkova has produced some stunning tennis of her own this week in Wuhan. Beginning the week in the No. 7 spot in the Road to Singapore standings, Cibulkova did herself a big favor by knocking off Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals on Friday. The Russian could have passed Cibulkova and made WTA Finals qualification a lot more complicated for the Slovakian, but Cibulkova held her ground and won her third match in two days to defeat Kuznetsova, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Slovakian will make her return to the Top 10 next week and, perhaps more important, she can put some serious distance between herself and her Singapore challengers with a win over Kvitova in the final. A victory would push Cibulkova into the sixth spot in the RTS standings.
Victory is certainly not out of the question. Though down 4-2 in the lifetime head-to-head with Kvitova, Cibulkova has taken the pair’s last two meetings.
What Petra’s Saying:
"I don't think it's just this tournament. I mean, I know the confidence is building with a couple matches, that you really have to fight, you have to feel well. You get some wins in a row, which really didn't happen in the beginning of the season. But from Montreal I'm just better in that. That's I think always giving me the confidence."
What Dominika’s Saying
"I would say that nothing has been easy here. I've had really tough matches from the first round so you don't expect anything easy from this tournament. I'm really looking forward to another final and I want to keep going, keep playing like this.”