Kvitova claims 10th tour title with Dubai victory

By Matt Smith

DUBAI (Reuters) - Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova claimed her 10th singles title after defeating Sara Errani 6-2 1-6 6-1 in the final of the Dubai Championships on Saturday.

The Czech started as favorite after winning her previous three meetings with the world number seven and the 22-year-old sought to assert her dominance from the off.

"It was very tough, up and down - she can catch a lot of balls and get them back... I tried to stay focused and calm in the last set," Kvitova said in a courtside interview.

She broke twice to race into a 3-0 lead in under 10 minutes as the diminutive Errani struggled to handle the world number eight's fearsome forehand.

The Czech, who did not drop a set in beating 2012 champion Agnieszka Radwanska and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in earlier rounds, suffered a wobble as two double faults helped Errani to narrow the deficit to 4-2, but the left-hander broke again to seal the set.

After such a stroll, it was easy to forget that claycourt specialist Errani was actually the higher-ranked player and few among the crowd would have expected anything but a similar procession for Kvitova in the second set.

The indefatigable Errani had other ideas, however, and with the crowds firmly supporting her, 2012 French Open finalist switched to a serve-and-volley approach.

That enabled her to break three times and she also held her own serve with increasing ease, winning six games in a row to square the match as more errors crept into Kvitova's game.