Petra Kvitova has displayed her credentials for a third Wimbledon title by beating Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova 4-6 6-1 6-2 to defend her Birmingham Classic title.

The 28-year-old Czech claimed her fifth WTA event of the season as well as a tour-leading 37th match win of the year by coming from a set down.

Rybarikova started Sunday’s contest on the front foot, punishing Kvitova for a whopping 22 unforced errors by converting two break points to take the opening set.

Kvitova, on the back of fine serving, roared back with consecutive breaks before levelling the match and then moved up another gear to dominate the final set with a string of powerful forehand winners.

“It’s amazing to defend a title,” she said courtside.

“It’s not happened in a long time for me.

“I was too nervous and Magda put pressure on me in the first set. It was tough to fightback but I was relaxed and it paid off afterwards.

“I’m going to Eastbourne (this week) for another tournament. We’ll see how it goes from there … but for sure Wimbledon is the next big one for us.”

Kvitova will be joined by the world’s top two players – Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki – and defending champion Karolina Pliskova in Eastbourne, the final tune-up ahead of Wimbledon, which begins on July 2.