Garanti Koza WTA Tournament of Champions, Bulgaria

Women’s Final: [CR15] Flavia Pennetta (ITA) vs. [CR17] Andrea Petkovic (GER)

It was a sloppy first set as both players felt the pressure of a final and made too many anxious unforced errors. Petkovic has the more attacking style of play; however, she had no rhythm on her groundstrokes the entire set and was unable to dictate play.

Both players got their nerves under control after the first set and the quality of play improved significantly. The aggressive shot maker, Petkovic, found her range in the second set and Pennetta could not adjust to the pace.  A poorly executed drop shot by Pennetta caused her to lose serve and forced her to play from behind the rest of the set and that added pressure adversely affected her game.

The third set was a battle as doubts crept into the minds of both players and they struggled to be consistent. Petkovic, the fitter player, finally got the advantage as Pennetta got exhausted from the extended rallies and she won this encounter 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.