Czech Kvitova captures New Haven title

Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova claimed her second title of the season by beating Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (11/9), 7-5 in the final of the WTA Tour's New Haven Open on Saturday. The 22-year-old second-seeded Czech earned her ninth singles title by hammering seven aces and winning 56 percent of her first-serve points in the two hour, seven minute match. The hardcourt tournament served as a tune-up for the US Open which begins on Monday in New York. Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011, outlasted Kirilenko in a marathon opening set that took more than an hour. She then rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the second by winning five consecutive games. Kirilenko, of Russia, committed seven double faults and won just 24 percent of her second-serve points. Saturday's final comes just weeks after the two met in the quarter-finals of the London Olympic women's singles tournament, where Kirilenko won in straight sets. Kvitova earned her her first title of 2012 with a victory over China's Li Na in Montreal earlier this month. She earned $107,000 for Sunday's win. Kvitova has secured the top spot in the US Open Series standings as a result of her performance in the tournaments heading into the final Grand Slam of the season. That gives her a chance to collect a $1 million bonus if she wins the US Open.