Radwanska masters art of finishing on a high note

SINGAPORE - With the unique format at the WTA Finals, it is all about how you finish rather than how you start as new champion Agnieszka Radwanska proved perfectly in Singapore this week.

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland kisses her trophy after defeating Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in their women's singles finals tennis match of the WTA Finals at the Singapore Indoor Stadium November 1, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

The Pole became the first winner of the end-of-season championships for the top eight women to lose two out of three matches in the round-robin phase.

The 26-year-old used her supreme court coverage and shot making craft to dispatch double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-2 4-6 6-3 in Sunday's final at the Indoor Stadium to land the biggest title of her career.

It seemed an unlikely prospect after she lost a tight three-setter to Russia's Maria Sharapova and was then beaten by U.S. Open champion Flavia Pennetta in straight sets to kick off her Red Group campaign.

Having completed an exhaustive schedule just to qualify for Singapore, Radwanska, with a taped shoulder and thigh, needed to remind herself there was still hope.

"I lost first two matches but it's not like I was playing bad. It was still good matches. I just didn't use the chances," a beaming Radwanska told reporters on Sunday, sat alongside the Billy Jean King Trophy.

"I wasn't really focused enough and something just slipped away and then it was hard to come back. But definitely not bad matches, especially the one against Maria," she added.

"I was really feeling better afterwards and I think I got used to the conditions, used to the surface."