Kuznetsova wins Kremlin Cup, beating Pavlyuchenkova

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russian Federation ousted second-seeded Lucie Safarova from the Kremlin Cup 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3 on Wednesday, leaving the Czech player vulnerable to being left out of the season-ending WTA finals.

“I’ve always been very excited playing here in Moscow”.

In the final, Pavlyuchenkova will face either Russian two-time Grand Slam victor Svetlana Kuznetsova or Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko. It will go to Safarova unless fifth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro reaches the final in Moscow or Karolina Pliskova wins the title.

Kuznetsova’s dominance was never in doubt against an opponent who had admitted she was exhausted as she played her 10th match in 12 days.

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

Italian third seed Pennetta cruised comfortably into the last eight with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Russia’s Daria Gavrilova, which guaranteed her a spot in the singles at the WTA Finals next week, but an hour later, the US Open champion withdrew from the rest of the Moscow event due to problems with her right foot.

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.

“But Svetlana played great today”.

“Deep down I always wanted to win this tournament”, Kuznetsova, whose last success was at the Washington Open in August 2014, said.

In Sunday’s final, Cilic will face either Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut or Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.