Mon, October 13, 2008
MOSCOW - Unseeded Igor Kunitsyn stunned Russian compatriot, and former world number one, Marat Safin to win the Kremlin Cup on Sunday in a three-set marathon which gave the 71st-ranked player his first career title.
Jelena Jankovic won the women's title in the joint 2.4-million-dollar ATP-WTA tournament with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Russia's Vera Zvonareva.
Safin, who was seeded seventh here, produced 21 aces but all in vain as Kunitsyn won 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 in two hours 49 minutes to deny his mercurial countryman a first title since winning the Australian Open in 2005.
"Everybody knows Marat (Safin) is better than me but today I'm the winner," Kunitsyn said.
"It's terrific to win my first title in front of my home fans and I hope I would be able to defend it here next year."
Both Safin, who played his first final since losing the 2006 Kremlin Cup final to Nikolay Davydenko, and Kunitsyn, who was playing his first final, kept their serves throughout the first set.
In a tiebreak that followed Kunitsyn was more accurate to gain a one-set lead in one hour six minutes.
Kunitsyn broke midway through the second set but Safin broke back immediately to level, forcing another tiebreak, which he won to level at one set all after two hours five minutes.
In the deciding set, Kunitsyn broke in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead, which he kept to clinch his first ATP title.
Kunitsyn, 27, received 171,000 dollars while Safin earned 92,400 dollars.
Meanwhile, Jankovic won 6-2, 6-4 in one hour 21 minutes to record a fourth victory in five head-to-heads with Zvonareva this season and clinch her fourth crown of 2008.
"I feel really emotional winning my third event in a row here," Jankovic said. "I feel great as the world's number one and really enjoy it."
"I'm really close to finishing the year as the world number one and I think it's a great achievement for me.
"It was very tough to win the final as Vera never gives up. She forced me to play my best tennis to win."
The 23-year-old Serbian, who was playing her sixth final of the season, started the match with an immediate break for a comfortable 2-0 lead. She then broke again to take the opening set in 33 minutes.
In the second set, Jankovic produced two more breaks but Zvonareva, ranked ninth in the world, broke back to level on both occasions.
But in the ninth game Jankovic managed to make the deciding break, going on to wrap up the match and take the title.
Jankovic received a silver trophy and a 196,900-dollar prize cheque, while runner-up Zvonareva pocketed 105,800 dollars.
(Agencies)
