Kasatkina denies Tunisian Jabeur to lift Kremlin Cup

Listen to this article:

Tennis – Kremlin Cup – Women’s singles – Final – Moscow, Russia – October 20, 2018 Daria Kasatkina of Russia holds her trophy after defeating Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

(Reuters) – Home favourite Daria Kasatkina roared back from a set and 4-1 down to win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Saturday, denying Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur a first WTA title for her country.

Last year’s runner-up Kasatkina survived a rollercoaster encounter to complete the turnaround for a 2-6 7-6(3) 6-4 victory after two hours and five minutes.

The pair exchanged early breaks in the opening set before Kasatkina fired a blistering forehand to take a 4-2 lead.

Playing her first WTA final, and a first for a Tunisian, Jabeur recovered with some aggressive returns as she reeled off four games in a row to claim the first set.

Jabeur’s relentless groundstrokes earned her a 4-1 lead in the second set before her sixth-seeded opponent showed her experience to draw level at 4-4.

Last year’s finalist Kasatkina turned on the style in the tiebreak, claiming four straight points to force a decider.

World number 101 Jabeur, who had battled through qualifying, showed understandable signs of fatigue as the match ticked past the two-hour mark, handing Kasatkina a crucial break on her way to a second career WTA title.

“I remember 10 years ago as a kid I was coming here, dreaming to standing on the centre court and holding this trophy, the 21-year-old Kasatkina said.

“It’s a dream come true.”

World number 14 Kasatkina ended a run of three losses in the finals to clinch her first hardcourt title.

The victory also earned her a trip to WTA Finals in Singapore, overtaking Aryna Sabalenka as the first alternate for the season-ending tournament next week.

Array
(
    [post_type] => post
    [post_status] => publish
    [orderby] => date
    [order] => DESC
    [update_post_term_cache] => 
    [update_post_meta_cache] => 
    [cache_results] => 
    [category__in] => 1
    [posts_per_page] => 4
    [offset] => 0
    [no_found_rows] => 1
    [date_query] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [after] => Array
                        (
                            [year] => 2023
                            [month] => 12
                            [day] => 29
                        )

                    [inclusive] => 1
                )

        )

)

No Posts found for specific category