This marked the sixth time these two met and the second time in a final against one another in Doha. Kvitova went on to take that win in three sets for the 2018 title marking her last win over the Spaniard. Muguruza had been on fire through the tournament, showing tremendous power on the forehand that took most of her opponents out.
The walkover she received in the semifinal gave her a day off to prepare for the Czech, who she definitely didn’t want to drop anything against. The three-time finalist took down Jessica Pegula in straight sets, but her season overall hasn’t been anything close to the leader in WTA wins this season. With four defeats over the 27-year-old, she’ll try to pull off the upset and bring an end to the rush from Muguruza.
Kvitova had a good quality service against Muguruza, holding her from forcing deuce to open the set. Muguruza bested the Czech when she allowed her just one point on her serve looking to take her offense across the court. The fourth seed trailed on serve, forcing deuce on a smart serve, pulling the Spaniard away from the court. She managed to get out of trouble after one break to maintain a hold of service.
Five games were in the books before a game from Muguruza went sour on the first point. She had a chance to lay out a smash close to the net but watched it go into the net. It was the one that she couldn’t recover from, handing Kvitova the break that doubled her lead. the Czech backed up the break, holding serve that gave her three games in a row won. With a massive 5-2 hold, Muguruza knew that she needed to hold the eighth or see Kvitova once again get the best of her.
Unforced errors were becoming critical for the Spaniard who committed too many in the eighth, giving Kvitova the break and set victory in 32 minutes. Each player scored five winners, but when it came to unforced errors, Muguruza had five too many despite having a stronger first serve. For Kvitova, it was the 22nd time that she won the first set and won the last 21 finals she played in when taking the first.
With that being a huge deal going into the second, Muguruza broke Kvitova to start things off, but her game got away from her in the next. The Spaniard committed a double fault that she never recovered from, giving the Czech the break back. The 27-year-old tried to get on the right side of the ball in the third, painting the lines with better control. She had two breakpoints, but erred on her last shot, getting Kvitova to deuce.
The confidence was back for the 30-year-old, who screamed out her frustrations and served out the win with a forced error to Muguruza. Kvitova took her energies and attacked Muguruza in the fourth, holding her to a single point for the double break. Kvitova kept her game together and watched as Muguruza committed the errors that assisted in consolidating once more.
The 27-year-old was all out of ideas as the Czech answered her well in the sixth, reaching three breakpoints. Muguruza saved two of them but lost on a well-placed winning crosscourt from Kvitova. With the chance to serve for the title, the 30-year-old got to a pair of championship points but faltered on her first with a double fault. The second was answered by Muguruza, who placed a line drive winner out of Kvitova’s reach to force deuce.
The Spaniard got a break-point on the next return but erred to bring back another shot for the fourth seed. Kvitova forced an error for a third championship point and locked it down on a second serve return that fell long for Muguruza ending her hopes in one hour and six minutes.
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