Sofia, Bulgaria (SportsNetwork.com) – Andrea Petkovic of Germany rallied past
Italy’s Flavia Pennetta to capture the WTA Tournament of Champions title on
Sunday.
Petkovic stormed back after a disastrous first set to earn a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
victory in the final. She earned her third title of 2014 and the fifth of her
career.
“I’m happy could gather enough energy and play well enough to win it in the
end,” said Petkovic, who also won previously this year in Charleston and Bad
Gastein. She improved to 5-5 lifetime in finals.
Pennetta won the first set in just 36 minutes, but Petkovic started her
comeback with a break of serve in the second and held serve from there to even
the match. Petkovic quickly fell behind 2-0 in the third and trailed 3-1
before winning the last five games.
The season isn’t quite over for Petkovic, who is set to play for Germany next
weekend in the Fed Cup final against the Czech Republic.
Pennetta fell to 10-14 all-time in finals, including 1-1 this year. She won
the Indian Wells title back in March.
Petkovic improved to 3-2 lifetime against Pennetta.
This eight-player season-ending tournament was for players who had won one or
more of the WTA International events during the year but failed to qualify for
the WTA Finals, which was staged last week in Singapore.
The Tournament of Champions will move to Zhuhai, China next year after a
three-year run in Sofia.
