Garcia downs Kvitova to claim Cincinnati crown

CINCINNATI: Qualifier Caroline Garcia completed a dream week on Sunday at the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters with a 6-2, 6-4 title defeat of Petra Kvitova. The French winner claimed her third Masters-level title — her 10th overall — after winning Wuhan and Beijing in a Chinese double five years ago. Garcia followed the extraordinary template of Emma Raducanu, who won the US Open 11 months ago as a qualifier.

Number 35 Garcia, who fell on her back after clinching victory, maintained her lead on the Tour with a 27th match victory since June. “Pure joy, just happiness,” she said. “Every single win is very important.

It’s always very hard to describe “It doesn’t happen so often and you have to really enjoy it. I’m grateful for this great week of tennis, and to win another title, it’s very special.” She said expectations were low when she arrived for the qualification rounds. “I was not that confident when I arrived, qualies were tough matches.

I was really happy to be through and play in the main draw,” she said. “Every match was a new challenge. I had to be focused on myself, on my game, what can I do, how I can be more aggressive, how can I improve.

“Just one day at a time I ended up here today on the final and now lifting the trophy.” Kvitova, a double Wimblecon champion, was playing the 40th final of her career and looking for a 30th title. Garcia set up match point against an opponent who needed off-court medical treatment by sending over her 11th ace of the afternoon. The end came on the next point as Kvitova returned long.