ITF World Champion awards; Czech stars claim it all – Tennis Special
The ITF (International Tennis Federation) World Champion titles were announced in London this Thursday and the Czech tennis stars have been declared as the winners in both singles and doubles category. Reigning world number two, Petra Kvitova, was named the ITF World Champion for the 2011 season for her consistent performances with the racquet. The duo of Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik was awarded the ITF World Champion title in the doubles category to honor their amazing feats in the current year.
It was the first time for all the three women to win the prestigious ITF World Champion title. Second ranked Kvitova was the first tennis player from Czech Republic to be bestowed with the glorious title ever since the legendary Ivan Lendl, who claimed it way back in 1990. The 2011 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) season was by far the most successful one for the 21-year-old Kvitova, who reached her career-high ranking of world number two to finish the year.
“I will cherish this award," Kvitova said. "It's the cherry on top of a wonderful year in which I managed to win Wimbledon, the WTA Championships, and together with the Czech team, the Fed Cup. It was a dream year. I'll never forget it.”
The Czech superseded the world number one, Caroline Wozniacki to claim the ITF World Champion title this year and it was all for her emphatic Grand Slam victory at the Wimbledon Championship this year. Kvitova beat all the odds to take down the former Wimbledon champion and the hot favourite, Maria Sharapova, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, in the final of the mega event claim the Major title.
The crafty left-hander took off 2011 as the world number 34 but stunned everyone to break into the Top-3 for the first time on 31st October. Kvitova’s aggressive game play and the natural angle she possess being a lefty have made her one of the most feared tennis competitors among women. Kvitova has a total of seven WTA championship titles under her belt and six of them came during the 2011 season. She took off the year with a title victory at Brisbane and then kept on with her winning impetus throughout the rest of the season. Kvitova was hailed the champion in Paris, Madrid, Linz and then the WTA circuit ending grand finale, the WTA Championships, to claim the second spot in the women’s rankings.
Kvitova led the Czech squad in the Fed Cup campaign against strong Team Russia and played a pivotal role in bring the first ever Fed Cup title to her country. With such a string of emphatic victories and achievement, Kvitova proved to be the most deserving tennis player to take the ITF World Champion title.
The Czech duo, Peschke and Srebotnik, also claimed its first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, propelling it to the world number one spot in the WTA doubles rankings. Peschke and Srebotnik bagged six WTA doubles title this year to become the most deserving doubles team for the ITF World Champion award.
In the men’s category, the winner of this year’s ITF World Champion title was none other than the world number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, for his extraordinary tennis season.
Winning such prestigious awards is not just an achievement for tennis players but it boosts their confidence to a whole new level for the coming seasons. Kvitova, Peschke and Srebotnik were all very hopeful to have a healthy start to 2012 WTA season after being declared the World Champion title and hope to take their games to a higher level to claim another of such award in the next season as well.
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