Two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova has won at least one WTA title since 2011 and kept that streak alive at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, dispatching defending champion Kristina Mladenovic, 6-1, 6-2.

"This was a special tournament for me," Kvitova said. "All week, I played unbelievable matches and I really had to fight to make the final."

The first left-hander to win a singles title in Russia, Kvitova played some of her best tennis since coming back from a traumatic hand injury last year, striking 16 winners in the first set alone to deny Mladenovic a second straight St. Petersburg title after 65 minutes on court.

the former World No.2 hit seven aces and dropped just six points behind her first serve, saving all three break points faced in front of an enthusiastic Sibur Arena crowd.

Kvitova has the fifthu-highest total singles titles among active players at 21, surpassing Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska.

The Czech veteran moves back up to World No.21 with no points to defend until the French Open, while Mladenovic's runner-up finish means semifinalist Julia Goerges will make her Top 10 debut on Monday's rankings.