The Sydney International final was down to the third-set tiebreak and Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova overcame last year’s runner-up Ashleigh Barty to win the Premier-level tournament for the second time, preventing the Australian from clinching the title in her home country.
The fifth-seeded Kvitova won just one game in the first set, hitting three winners that were far outweighed by 13 unforced errors. The closely-fought second set went with serve until 5-5, when Kvitova broke Barty and then served out the set in the next game with a stunning backhand winner on the second set point.