SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Fourth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany rallied to defeat third-seeded Flavia Pennetta 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 Sunday in the final of the season-ending Tournament of Champions, clinching her third WTA title of the year.
Pennetta started aggressively and the Italian broke Petkovic’s serve three times to win the opening set in just 35 minutes.
Petkovic staged a comeback in the second set thanks to her booming serve. The German earned the only break of the set in the first game and held on to level the match.
She then broke Pennetta’s serve at 3-3 in the deciding set and cruised from there.
“I am very happy to win the title at the end of this long season,” Petkovic said. “I dedicate my victory to my dad (and coach Zoran Petkovic.)”
The 27-year-old Bosnian-born Petkovic is set to rise to No. 14 when the WTA rankings are updated on Monday.
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