Victory at Zhuhai puts starry Czech in hunt for No 1 

Since peaking at the world's No 2 women's ranking five years ago, Petra Kvitova has endured a tough road striving to regain a spot in the top 10. 

But she still has her sights firmly set on becoming No 1. 

"The No 1 spot is still missing in my career. Without that goal I probably don't play tennis anymore," the 26-year-old Czech said after claiming the Elite Trophy at the WTA Tour's year-ending event in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, on Sunday. 

"I still have motivation to play better, to improve myself on and off the court, to win some tournaments and Grand Slams. And with that I'm going to try to attain my best ranking ever," she said. 

Kvitova rose to stardom in 2011 by winning her first Wimbledon title, the championship at the WTA Finals and the No 2 ranking at the age of 21. 

She has also made the annual showcase in Singapore, restricted to the world's top eight players, despite battling mononucleosis last year. 

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic hits a return to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in Sunday's final of the WTA Elite Trophy tournament in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. Kvitova defeated Svitolina 6-4, 6-2. [Photo by Chen Jimin / Provided to China Daily]

But Kvitova had a tough first half this season, beginning with a split from her coach of seven years. She broke up with her fiance, fell out of the top 10 and had a disappointing loss in the second round at Wimbledon, where she has twice lifted the trophy (2011 and 2014). 

The turning point came at the Rio Olympics, when she started to feel more confident. She won a bronze medal, then ended her 13-month title drought by winning the Wuhan Open on October 1. 

The Czech star continued to look strong in Zhuhai, where she won every set in the mandatory tournament for singles players ranked from No 9-19. 

The victory helped Kvitova to rise from No 13 before the tournament to No 11 in the latest WTA rankings, released on Monday. 

"I came to Asia feeling good, and I'm really enjoying myself on the court now," Kvitova said. 

"I missed that feeling for a couple of months early in the season, so I'm very happy that I found it again." 

WTA Insider reporter David Kane lauded Kvitova's performance in Zhuhai, describing it as "one of her best performances since winning at Wimbledon in 2014". 

"The only negative thing you can say about Petra right now is that it's the last week of the season, because she is playing really great tennis. If the season went on for another few weeks I think we could see even greater performances from her," Kane said. 

"She's going into the off-season to look for a new coach. But she has been through the Asian swing with her fitness trainer and things have been working out very well." 

Kvitova said she wished the season was a little bit longer, but heading into the Fed Cup in France this weekend, she and her teammates are favored to win the trophy for the Czech Republic. 

"When I'm playing the matches, that's the best practice that I can have," she said. 

And she is ready to march into the new season with extended fitness preparation. She will also participate in the Hopman Cup to get ready for the first Grand Slam of 2017. 

Before leaving Zhuhai, Kvitova took to Twitter to congratulate Britain's Andy Murray on becoming the new men's world No 1 after a seven-year chase: "You worked so hard to get there the looong way. You are a true inspiration!" 

Kvitova now hopes to prove she can survive similar ups and downs on her climb to a new career high. 

xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn 

Zhang climbs to world No 24 

Zhang Shuai moved to a career-high No 24 in the WTA Tour rankings released on Monday after reaching the semifinals of the WTA Elite Trophy tournament. 

Zhang, China's No 1 female player after the retirement of two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na, lost to Petra Kvitova in the semifinal in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. But her victories over Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky and Hungary's Timea Babos moved her up four places from the previous week. 

Two other Chinese are in the world's top 100. Wang Qiang, the 2014 Asian Games champion who upset 24th seed Sloane Stephens in the Australian Open, sits at No 70 and Zheng Saisai is No 85.