Istanbul, Oct 26: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova beat Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-2, 6-4 in the opening match at the WTA Championships on Tuesday.
Making her first appearance at the season-ending tournament for the top eight players of the season, Kvitova wasted a 4-1 lead to be level at 4-4 in the second set but broke again immediately before wrapping up the win.
The win gave the Czech player an early lead in the Red Group, which also includes No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Wozniacki was to play Radwanska later, while Maria Sharapova was to begin White Group play against U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur.
