Kuznetsova Hoists Home Crown In Moscow

Kasatkina, 102nd in the WTA rankings, dominated the play from the start, while Pavlyuchenkova, who won last week in Linz, Austria, looked visibly exhausted.

She nonetheless gave credit to Kuznetsova who, by contrast, was far more efficient on return, breaking serve four times and losing just five points behind her own first serve for the duration of the match.

Despite her gallant efforts, Pavlyuchenkova eventually went down 6-2 6-1 in the final and the 24-year-old admitted it was a disappointing end to the competition, with her injury plaguing her through the match with Kuznetsova. Sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova could have booked a ticket to Singapore by winning the Kremlin Cup, but she lost her second-round match Wednesday to Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.

Kuznetsova then delighted the crowd early in the second set when she chased down a Pavlyuchenkova shot to respond with a flawless tweener.

For the two-time Grand Slam victor Kuznetsova, it is her first title in her home country and comes at her 11th attempt at the Kremlin Cup. “And I’ve always been very excited playing here in Moscow”.

“Unfortunately I failed to recover to play on a normal level today”, Pavlyuchenkova said. “I have no idea how I managed to win it”. For me to win in Moscow is just the same as to win in Miami.

In the men’s competition, Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili upset third-seeded Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-3, while Robin Haase of the Netherlands defeated fifth-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

In the ATP section of the event, second seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, last year’s runner-up, cruised into the last eight, disposing of Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan 6-2, 7-5.