Kremlin Cup 2010: Finals Preview
The thirty seventh event in the ATP World Tour 250 series of the season, the Kremlin Cup wraps up on Sunday, 24th of October, in Moscow. Three finals are scheduled for the day.
In the centre court, the first matchup of the day is a seeded battle. Second seed and world number ten Victoria Azarenka from Belarus plays against the 6th seed Russian, Maria Kirilenko. Kirilenko advanced into the finals
by embarrassing countrywoman Vera Dushevina with a straight set win of 6-1, 6-1. Azarenka also eased into the final by defeating Spanish Maria Martinez in their semi final match. The final match score was 6-3, 6-3.
With ten Russian professionals in the tournament, fans would have expected a final between them however such is not the case. With only one set loss in the tournament Azarenka defeated German Andrea Petkovic and Russian Alisa Kleybanova
in early rounds to secure a spot for herself in the semi final. Kirilenko however proved that she belonged in the finals with her no set loss record in the tournament. All of Russia’s hope now rests on her to win a title for the Motherland.
The two professionals have met thrice before on the court; Kirilenko leads the head to head score by 2-1. She defeated Azarenka once in Auckland in 2006 and then again in Stanford in 2007. Azarenka however made a break in the two
nil score by defeating Kirilenko earlier in the year in Montreal. Given another chance for a meet up, Azarenka might level the head to head score on Sunday or Kirilenko’s flawless tournament record may just continue all the way into the finals, and she might
be able to grab a title win. Nonetheless, both players have no title wins this year.
Serbian Viktor Troicki and 4th seed Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus also battle it out for the men’s singles title later in the day. Troicki sailed into the final after having defeated Pablo Cuevas from Uruguay with a match
score of 6-3, 6-3. Baghdatis suffered a minor glitch in his semi final match with Denis Istomin; losing his second set in tie break, however he ultimately won the match to secure a spot for himself in the final.
The two professionals have gone head to head only once before when they played each other earlier in the year. The two players met on the court at Medibank International Sydney where Baghdatis defeated Troicki by 7-5, 6-3. Their
head to head score is 1-0 in Baghdatis’s favour. Troicki having had smooth sailing in the tournament might be able to level the score tomorrow or Baghdatis might prove victorious once more to lead the score 2-0.
The last matchup of the day is the final for the men’s doubles between the Serbian team of Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic, and Russia’s own Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov. The Russians were a wild card entry into the tournament
and as luck would have it, they sailed into the finals without losing a single set. Although Russia lost her chance for a men’s single title, the coordinated pair might bag one for her in the doubles category.
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