JOIN USThe left-handed Czech 16th seed, who will break into the top 10 for the first time on Monday, overpowered Belarussian Azarenka with some booming groundstrokes to add to her successes in Brisbane and Paris.
The 21-year-old squandered a match point on the Azarenka serve at 5-3 in the second set but made no mistake a game later before raising both arms aloft in triumph.
Azarenka, who won the doubles title with Maria Kirilenko on Saturday, will rise one place to number four in the world when the rankings are updated on Monday.
Kvitova, the only left-hander in the top 30 and a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year, will rise to 10th from her current ranking of 18th.
On Saturday, Rafael Nadal overcame Roger Federer 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 to set up a Madrid Masters final against Novak Djokovic on an emotional day that had started with a tearful tribute to Seve Ballesteros.
The Spaniard’s victory set up a familiar final for the world number one, with Nadal to face off for the third straight time at a Masters this season against world number two Djokovic.
The Serb overcame an early lapse to hold off unseeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
One way or another, a streak will be broken in Sunday’s final with Nadal not having lost on clay in 37 matches and Djokovic undefeated on all surfaces in 2011 after 31 straight wins. Nadal will be bidding for his third clay title of the spring after Monte Carlo and Barcelona.