Svetlana Kuznetsova has booked her place in the Singapore Finals after crushing Australia’s Daria Gavrilova 6-2, 6-1, in the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
Getting off to a nervous start after dropping her serve, the Russian restored order instantly as she dominated proceedings by dictating play against Gavrilova, who was playing in her first WTA Final. The inexperience of the tired Australian played into the hands of Kuznetsova as she clinched six consecutive games to close out the opening set with the help of a backhand cross-court winner.
Intensifying her stronghold beyond the opening set, the former US Open runner-up raced to a 6-2, 4-0, lead resulting in Gavrilova bursting into tears as a result of the one-sided final. The Australian did manage to get a game on the scoreboard to end Kuznetsova’s ten-game streak, but it was too little too late. Closing in on the title, the 31-year-old sealed the title with a winning forehand return.
“I felt tired on morning practice, I didn’t know how I am going to play.” She said during her press conference according to Russian journalist Dmitry Shakhov. “Last year I had better preparation for Moscow and won. This year I had less time, but I was stronger as a player this season.”
Winning her 22nd WTA title, Kuznetsova has overtaken Johanna Konta and book her place in the WTA Finals in Singapore, which will start tomorrow. Speaking about the short turnaround between Moscow and Singapore, Kuznetsova has criticise the scheduling of the event by saying that she has been given a disadvantage.
“I think the schedule is unfair for me. I feel like I don’t have the same chances as other girls in Singapore.” Said Kuznetsova.
“Maybe (the) WTA finals should be played in the same week as Zhuhai.” She later added.
It will be the sixth time that she has played in the $7 million event and the first since 2009. Drawn in the white group, Kuznetsova will play Garbine Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova in the round robin stages.
Meanwhile, Konta will still take away a £56,000 on-site ‘reserve’ fee after being relegated from the top eight. On Friday the Brit won the ’most improved player’ award on the WTA Tour following her breakthrough year where she reached the top 10 for the first time.
