Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic beat Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-4 yesterday to win the Kremlin Cup and her third straight title in as many weeks.
The 23-year-old Serb was coming off back-to-back titles at the China Open and the Porsche Grand Prix in Germany.
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Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic beat Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-4 yesterday to win the Kremlin Cup and her third straight title in as many weeks. |
It was her fourth title this season and the eighth in her career. She was also runner-up twice this season, losing to Serena Williams in Miami and at the US Open.
In the men's final, Igor Kunitsyn beat former world No. 1 Marat Safin, the seventh seed, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-3 in an all-Russian encounter.
The No. 9-ranked Zvonareva could not challenge Jankovic in the first set and was broken twice in Moscow.
After trading service breaks early in the second, Jankovic took a 3-2 lead with a break in the fifth game, but Zvonareva leveled at 4-4 only to be broken again in the ninth game.
Jankovic served and closed the match on her first match point when Zvonareva returned long.
Jankovic, who beat Zvonareva in her two previous events, said she knew she was going to have to work hard for every point.
"I was really expecting a tough match," Jankovic said. "I was really focused from the start of the match. I went out there aggressive and really played my game and I was really going after the shots."
Jankovic said she is committed to playing in Zurich next week but will then take two weeks off to prepare for the season-ending tournament in Doha, Qatar.
In Vienna, Austria, Philipp Petzschner upset Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4 yesterday to win the BA Tennis Trophy and his first ATP Tour title.
The 125th-ranked German had never been beyond the quarterfinals of an ATP event before. He had to play two qualifying rounds to enter the main draw and became only the third qualifier this season to win a tournament on the ATP circuit.
The eighth-seeded Monfils of France has now lost five of his six career finals having won in Sopot, Poland, in 2005.
In Stockholm, Sweden, top-seeded David Nalbandian capped a near-perfect week with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 win over local favorite Robin Soderling to win the Stockholm Open final yesterday.
The seventh-ranked Argentine lost just one set - the second set of the final - in five matches on the Royal Tennis Hall's hardcourts.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily October 13, 2008)