Linz: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova won her fifth WTA title of the year on Sunday when she brushed aside Dominika Cibulkova to take the Linz Open.
The fourth-ranked Kvitova has struggled since winning her first Major at the All England Club, but found her form on Sunday to deny the seventh-seeded Slovak.
The 21-year-old Czech won 6-4, 6-1 to notch up her fourth win in as many meetings with Cibulkova and dash her Slovakian opponent's hopes of winning a first WTA title.
"It wasn't as clear as the result suggests," said the top-seeded Kvitova after adding to her titles at Wimbledon, Brisbane, Madrid and indoors at Paris.
"It was only easy for me towards the end."
Kvitova broke in the first game but Cibulkova hit back to level at 4-4 before Kvitova broke again to take the set.
The pair swapped service breaks at the start of the second set before Kvitova took control, winning five games in a row to wrap up the match.
"In the first set, I thought that maybe I could do it, but in the end I was on the defensive too often and she deserved the win," said Cibulkova.
"It was a great week for me. It feels good that I finally got into a final again," added Cibulkova, who along with 16th-ranked Peng Shuai remains the only player in the current top 30 without a WTA title.
Kvitova broke Cibulkova's serve on six occasions to win her fifth title of the season - and sixth overall - in just under 90 minutes.
"Dominika has played really this week and many games were close today," said Kvitova. "I am not thinking about my ranking. I am just working on my tennis to get better and better."
"This was a great preparation for (the WTA Championships in) Istanbul," said Kvitova, who had made a last-minute decision to play in Linz.
Only top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki's six wins this season tops Kvitova.
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