MOSCOW: Daria Kasatkina won the Kremlin Cup here on Saturday as Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur narrowly failed to become the first WTA winner from her country.

Jabeur was a set and a break up at 4-1 in the second before she seemed to tire in her eighth match in as many days, allowing Kasatkina to claim a 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory with vocal support from the home crowd.

The exhausted Jabeur served the last game with tears in her eyes.

“I saw you gave everything and this is what sport is about,” Kasatkina told Jabeur. “When I was a little girl 10 years ago, I was dreaming of being champion one day,” the 21-year-old Russian said. “Thank you to everyone who believed in me.”

Sixth-seeded Kas­at­­kina ended a run of three losses in finals, including last year’s Kremlin Cup, and now has a career 2-3 record. Her previous win was in Charleston in April 2017.

Russian competitors have won the wom­en’s Kremlin Cup four times in the last five years, with Germ­any’s Julia Goe­r­ges beating Kasat­kina in 2017 final.

Jabeur, the junior French Open champion in 2011, was the first Tunisian to reach a women’s tour final and the first African finalist since South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers in 2014. “I enjoyed a lot playing here this week. Hopefully I can do more next year.”

Qualifiers have played four WTA finals this year and lost them all.

Jabeur’s run to the final included surprise wins over Ekaterina Makarova, former US Open champion Sloane Stephens, Anett Kontaveit and Anastasija Sevastova.

Kasatkina came back from the brink of defeat in the second round when she broke Alize Cornet’s serve to stay in the match.

On Friday, Jabeur beat 11th-ranked Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the semi-final while Kasatkina, ranked 14th, subdued Britain’s Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-3 in the other last-four match.

Also on Friday, in the men’s draw at least one Russian is guaranteed to make the final as Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov were to meet in the semi-final.

Medvedev won 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 against last year’s finalist Ricardas Berankis, while Khachanov beat Mirza Basic 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Italian veteran Andreas Seppi reached the semis in his bid for a first title since the 2012 when he upset fourth-seeded Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 6-4, 7-6 (2). Seppi next faces Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who beat Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Published in Dawn, October 21st , 2018