Monday October 26, 2009
Home boy Youzhny, Schiavone triumph in Moscow
MOSCOW: Home favourite Mikhail Youzhny and Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone both tasted victory in the US$2mil Kremlin Cup joint ATP and WTA event here yesterday.
Third seed Youzhny battled from a set down to beat Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic in the men’s final, with Schiavone winning just the second title of her career by defeating Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3, 6-0.
All mine: Mikhail Youzhny celebrates after winning the Kremlin Cup final match against Janko Tipsarevic at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow. Youzhny won 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 6-4. — Reuters Youzhny, playing in his 11th consecutive Kremlin Cup, won 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 6-4 to extend the streak of successive Russian champions in the event to six and secure his first win over Tipsarevic in three encounters.
The last non-Russian to win the men’s title here was American Taylor Dent in 2003.
Youzhny, 30th in the ATP rankings, looked more focused from the start, breaking his sixth-seeded rival’s serve early for a 3-0 advantage.
But Tipsarevic, who was playing his first career ATP final at the age of 25, broke back in the fifth game to level at three games all.
The two players, neither of whom had dropped a set before the final, settled the opening set in a tie-break, which world number 46 Tipsarevic won after one hour and 11 minutes on court.
In the second Youzhny, 27, spurred on by the home crowd, picked up steam, breaking his rival’s serve three times to win the set to love in 33 minutes.
Youzhny also began the deciding set with an immediate break.
Tipsarevic fought tooth and nail trying to close the gap but Youzhny was in complete command and kept his narrow lead intact throughout the set to seal his fifth career title in two hours and 43 minutes.
Schiavone, 29 and ranked 24th in the world, won in one hour and 17 minutes to record her second win in three head-to-head meetings with Govortsova.
The finalists traded breaks throughout a closely-fought first set, but it was Schiavone, the 2005 runner-up here, who was the more consistent. — AFP
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