Sunday 19 October 2014 14:57, UK
Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claimed the Kremlin Cup on home soil, beating Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4 5-7 6-1 in the final in Moscow.
The sixth seed triumphed in two hours 28 minutes to claim her seventh title on the WTA Tour her second of the year, her other success coming at the Open GDF Suez in Paris.
She also becomes the fourth Russian woman to be crowned champion in the event's 21-year history, following in the footsteps of Anastasia Myskina, who won in 2003 and 2004, Anna Chakvetadze (2006) and Elena Dementieva (2007)
Having taken a nervy opening set that saw a total of seven breaks of serve between the pair, the 23-year-old dropped her first set of the week when Begu battled back to level matters.
However, Pavlyuchenkova raced out to a 5-0 lead in the decider as her opponent, playing in her first final since 2012, tired.
"It's just the best possible way to finish the season," Pavlyuchenkova, who sealed victory on her second match point, said afterwards at the presentation ceremony.
"It was a really tough match. We were both fighting but somebody had to win. I just couldn't have lost at home."
