Story highlights
Dominika Cibulkova claims maiden WTA Tour title in Moscow
Cibulkova beat Kaia Kanepi in final of Kremlin Cup
Janko Tipsarevic takes men's title at same tournament
Gael Monfils wins Stockholm Open for first title of the year
Dominika Cibulkova battled past Kaia Kanepi in a two-hour 36 minute marathon to claim her first WTA Tour title with victory in the Kremlin Cup final Sunday.
The Slovakian eighth seed won 3-6 7-6 7-5 to see off the challenge of her unseeded Estonian opponent , who had beaten Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova on the way to the final.
Kanepi took the early advantage by taking the opening set with a single break of service.
The second went with service until Cilbulkova leveled affairs by winning seven points in a row in the tiebreak.
From three-all in the decider, five breaks of service followed, but Cibulkova claimed the last of them to lead 6-5 and served out for victory.
“This is the best feeling I’ve ever had. It’s the best day for me,” Cibulkova told the official WTA website.
“I’ve been waiting for my first WTA title for so long. It’s also special because I had so many tough moments, against (Vera) Zvonareva in the quarterfinals and against Kaia today. It didn’t come easily. I really had to fight for my first title.”
The men’s ATP title at the Kremlin Cup went to Serbia’s top seed Janko Tipsarevic as he beat second seed and compatriot Viktor Troicki.
Tipsarevic won 6-4 6-2 in one hour 28 minutes to take the title from defending champion Troicki.
At the Stockholm Open, France’s Gael Monfils won his first title in a year when he defeated Finn Jarkko Nieminen 7-5 3-6 6-2 in the final.
The victory leaves Monfils with an outside chance of claiming a place for next month’s ATP World Tour Finals in London.
