US Open champion Marin Cilic won the Kremlin Cup, beating Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
The
big-serving Croat, seeded second, broke his Spanish opponent once in
each set at Moscow's Olimpiisky arena to take his 13th career title and
fourth of the season.
Earlier
Sunday, sixth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated
Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 to win the women's event.
Croatia's Marin Cilic kisses the trophy after defeating Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut in the final
The eighth-ranked Cilic said his serve, usually his main weapon, was not at its best.
'I
wasn't able to hit big bombs. I was today playing more in combinations
and I was playing a bit better from the baseline,' he said. 'It was many
difficult physical rallies.'
Cilic
secured qualification Friday for next month's ATP Finals in London and
said he was in good form to face the rest of the world's top eight.
'I'm
going to be motivated to do well,' he said. 'I've been winning a lot of
matches in indoors which is for sure one of my favorite surfaces to
play.'
Bautista Agut battled bravely but was eventually overpowered by US Open champion Cilic
Cilic
becomes the first Croatian man to win the Moscow ATP 250 tournament
since his coach Goran Ivanisevic beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1996.
In
Bautista Agut, Cilic faced a close friend but one he had not played
competitively since an under-14 tournament 12 years ago. The 16th-ranked
Spaniard is now 2-2 in career finals.
In the women's final, Pavlyuchenkova seized her chance when Begu tired after two evenly-matched sets.
Playing
in her home city, Pavlyuchenkova skipped across the court with joy
after converting her second match point to become the first Russian
woman to win the Kremlin Cup since Elena Dementieva in 2007.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 to win the women's event
'It's
just the best possible way to end the season,' Pavlyuchenkova said. 'It
was a really tough match. I just couldn't have lost at home.'
The Russian is now 7-3 in career WTA finals. The Kremlin Cup is her season's second title after the Open GDF Suez in Paris.
Pavlyuchenkova
dropped just one set in the five matches she played on the way to the
title, none of them against a seeded opponent.
World No. 61 Begu is 1-3 in finals. This was her first final since 2012.
Absent
from the trophy presentation was Russian Tennis Federation president
Shamil Tarpischev, who was banned for a year by the WTA on Friday over
derogatory comments about the Williams sisters.
Tarpischev did, however, attend the presentation for the men's final, which was under the auspices of the ATP.
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