Petra Kvitova won the 2023 Miami Open and she didn't hide her emotions after the triumph.
In the final, the former world no. 2 took on Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan and the match proved to be a real battle. After one hour and 42 minutes, Kvitova won the match 7-6(14), 6-2 and her opponent lost for the first time in almost two months.
Especially the first-set tie-break was exceptional with both players having five set points in it. Eventually, after 30 points, the more-experienced Czech player won it 16-14 and she spoke about the tie-break after the match to the Tennis Channel.
"The tiebreak, oh my god. Was probably the longest in my career, somehow I managed it. It was really difficult and the tiebreak was something amazing. You could see the balls after the tiebreak, it was like big fluffy balls."
After winning her first title of the 2023 season, and her first WTA 1000 title since the 2018 Madrid Open, the two-time Wimbledon champion joked that she doesn't have any more goals for this season as she has won the title already.
"No, I don't have any goal. My goal was always to have one title in the season, so I'm already done."
On Monday, the Czech player will return to the Top 10 of the WTA Rankings for the first time since 2021. It's a major step for the 33-year-old who continues to prove that age is just a number. After she found out that she'll be ranked 10th again, Kvitova said:
"Wow, I didn't even know this. I couldn't even expect this at all. To be back in the top 10, well, what can I say. I'm very happy. I didn't expect this at all."