Wozniacki beats Stosur to win Moscow title

MOSCOW (AFP) –

Danish Caroline Wozniacki kisses the trophy after defeating Australian Samantha Stosur during the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament final match in Moscow. She won 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

Third seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark won the WTA Kremlin Cup here on Sunday, beating Australian top seed Samantha Stosur to claim the 20th title of her career.

The former world number one survived a tough match against Stosur winning 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 for her second title this year to level her head-to-head record with the ninth-ranked Australia at 3-3.

“It was a tough match and it could have gone either way,” said Wozniacki, who had to dig deep to fight back from 1-3 down in the third set.

“But at the right times I managed to win the right points. I tried to stay agressive and stay close to the line and just dictate.”

Wozniacki, currently 11th in the world, had made a confident start with an early break giving her a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Stosur broke back in the fifth game but failed to level as the Dane produced two more breaks to take the opening set in 37 minutes.

Stosur, looking for her first title since the 2011 US Open, fought back in the second set to level at one set all after one hour 20 minutes on court.

The 28-year-old started the deciding set with an immediate break to grab a 2-0 lead but Wozniacki broke back in the sixth to level at three games all.

In the 12th game Wozniacki made the deciding break to win the match in 2hr 13min when Stosur, who survived two match points, sent the ball wide with a forehand cross.

Wozniacki promised to come to Moscow next year to defend her title here.

“It’s always nice to come back to the tournament, which you have won,” she added.

The Dane received a silver Cartier trophy and a $122,000 cheque, while runner-up Stosur pocketed $66,250.

Stosur criticised herself for producing too many mistakes in the match, saying that early errors prevented her from staging a comeback.

“I certainly put myself in too much of a hole to be allowed to get out of it,” Stosur said, adding she had no regrets about playing aggressively in the decider.

“I feel like I went for the right things and missed by just a couple of inches.”

Later on Sunday second-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi battled from a set down to see off fourth seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil to win the ATP Kremlin Cup title.

The 28-year-old Seppi won through 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 for his third career title and second of the year.

“Thomaz started well and was serving very good, while I experienced problems on return,” Seppi said. “But I tried hard to stay close and put pressure on him.

“He played two bad games when he was serving for the match in the second set and it boosted my confidence and helped me to win the tie-break and especially the third set.”

Bellucci, 24, who was playing his first ever indoor final, broke his opponent’s serve in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead and he took the set in 30 minutes.

In the second both men traded breaks before Bellucci, ranked 41st, twice served for the match.

But Seppi refused to surrender and broke back twice, forcing a tiebreak, which he won to level proceedings.

In the decider, Seppi took command, breaking his rival’s serve twice to take the match in two hours 11 minutes.

The Italian earned a silver Cartier trophy and 121,520-dollar prize purse, while runner-up Bellucci received 64,000 dollars.