Serbia’s top seed Janko Tipsarevic won the ATP title of the joint WTA/ATP US$1.5 million Kremlin Cup on Sunday, beating his second seed and compatriot Viktor Troicki.
Earlier, eighth seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia battled back from a set down to win her first ever title beating Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the WTA final.
Tipsarevic, 14th in the ATP rankings, prevailed 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 28 minutes to dethrone Troicki and level their head-to-head record at 1-1.
Photo: Reuters
“It’s definitely my career best season as I claimed two titles this year,” said Tisparevic, who also played in the 2009 Kremlin Cup final.
Tipsarevic, 27, who suffered a straight-set defeat at the hands of Troicki in their only previous clash here in 2008, came into the match slightly more focused, breaking his rival’s serve right from the start for a 2-0 lead.
Hard-hitter Troicki replied with a break in the fourth game to level at 2-2, but Tipsarevic produced another break in the ninth game to claim the opening set in 44 minutes.
In the second, Tipsarevic, who lifted his first title at Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, underlined his dominance on the hardcourt of Moscow’s Olympic indoor stadium, breaking Troicki’s serve twice again to win the set, the match and his second ATP title.
The winner received a silver trophy by Cartier and US$132,000 in prize money, while Troicki got US$69,500.
In the women’s final, Cibulkova won a tough three-setter with Kanepi 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-5 in 2 hours, 40 minutes to record her first ever win in their third meeting.
“I’ve been close to this win for a long time and I’m so happy to finally clinch my first title,” Cibulkova said. “It’s the end of the season, which is probably my career’s best. It just couldn’t finish better as I finally got my first WTA win after finishing runner-up in Linz last week. I’m really happy now.”
Kanepi, 26, who won her first WTA title last year in Palermo, looked slightly more focused from the start, breaking halfway into the opening set for a comfortable 4-1 lead.
Cibulkova, who lost all three of her previous WTA finals, including her runner-up finish in Linz last week, failed to close the gap, leaving Kanepi with a one-set lead after 41 minutes.
No big serves were produced in the second set, which went to a tiebreak, with Bratislava resident Cibulkova proving the more accurate to level at one set each after 1 hour, 37 minutes.
In the deciding set, the 22-year-old from Slovakia produced three breaks to win the set and the match.
Cibulkova received a silver trophy and US$118,000 in prize money, while runner-up Kanepi pocketed the US$64,000 prize.
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