Kvitova beats Zvonareva

In just under an hour and a half of error-ridden tennis, world number three Kvitova was rewarded for an excellent middle spell in which she won six consecutive games, but neither player covered themselves in glory with double-faults and scooping mis-hits the order of the day.

Wimbledon champion Kvitova faltered at the end of the second set but some dreadful play by Zvonareva allowed her to close out her first end-of-season WTA Championships win.

The Red Group also features world number one and last year's beaten finalist in Doha, Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the second match of the day.

Second seed Maria Sharapova of Russia can become world number one if she wins the tournament; she takes on US Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia in the final match of the day, the first from the White Group Group.

In her first match at the finals, Kvitova showed why she is one of the brightest prospects in tennis but also one of the more frustrating.

After a scrappy error-ridden start that saw the first five games go against serve, Kvitova took charge with six games in a row as she blasted her way to the first set and immediately went a break up in the second.

The big-hitting Czech was dominant with her booming serve and unconventional shot selection, while the Russian appeared to surrender with a whimper and some worryingly-frequent park shots.

The 27-year-old sixth-seed, a former world number two and beaten finalist at last year’s Wimbledon and US Open, stopped the rot midway through the second set with her first hold of the day.

But - at 3-1 to Kvitova - a monster game saw the Czech take her third break point with an uncharacteristically delicate pass after what seemed like an eternity around deuce.

All the 21-year-old had to do was hold serve twice but she was immediately broken back as she flaked on serve, double-faulting in the process as the Russian earned her first break of the match.

Zvonareva suddenly found confidence, holding to love with her first succession of strong first serves in the match, and breaking again with a lovely pass after enticing her opponent into the net.

Having been a set and two breaks up Kvitova was falling apart but it was Zvonareva’s turn to implode as, at 4-4, she chucked in four unforced errors to hand the Czech the easiest break of her short career to date and a chance to serve for the match.

Kvitova took that opportunity with a neat volley at the net, closing out her debut win at the season-ending championships for the top eight ranked players.