Sixth seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia won her first Kremlin Cup title on Saturday when she beat Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur in a tough three-setter.
The 21-year-old Kasatkina was runner up here last season and this year she had to battle back from a set down to win 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in two hours two minutes to chalk up her second win over the Tunisian 24-year-old in as many meetings.
"I remember 10 years ago when I was a kid I came here and was dreaming that (some day) I would stand on this central court holding the trophy aloft," Kasatkina said at the award ceremony. And now here I am. The dream came true."
The opponents traded breaks at the start then held their serves until the sixth game when Kasatkina suddenly lost her nerve allowing Jabeur to break twice again to take the opening set in 23 minutes.
In the second set tiebreak Kasatkina, ranked 14th in the world, was slightly more accuracy to level the match at one set all after one hour 25 minutes on court.
In the deciding set Jabeur, who was playing her eighth match in eight days, looked obviously tired.
As the set wore on she suffered cramp in her leg and was almost unable to run allowing Kasatkina to produce the deciding break in the 10th game to wrap up the victory.
‘Fame won't affect’
US Open champion Naomi Osaka admitted Saturday she is still grappling with her newfound stardom but believes the overwhelming attention won't affect her game at the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore.
Osaka said her life had changed since the US Open but vowed to remain focused on tennis.
"With the recognition part, I do feel a bit different," she told reporters in Singapore.
"For me, I can't change who I am. I just focus on my matches, so I just play tennis and I leave the rest up to everyone that I trust." Since winning in New York, the world number four has fallen short in Tokyo and Beijing.
But Osaka has a chance to finish a memorable year on a high in Singapore, which starts on Sunday.
The rising star is the youngest player in the draw and she starts the round-robin event on Monday against American Sloane Stephens.
