Halep conquers Stosur in Moscow
Simona Halep won the Kremlin Cup in Moscow with a 7-6(1), 6-2 victory over Samantha Stosur for her fifth title of 2013.
Fifth seed Halep broke early and held a point for 4-1 before 2012 Moscow finalist Stosur fought back to 3-3.
The Australian, champion in Osaka a week earlier, fended off nine break points in two later service games. However Halep comfortably took the ensuing tie-break for the lead.
Stosur broke in the opening game of the second set before the Romanian No.1 fired back with a run of four games. In the eighth game Halep set up match point with a backhand winner and sealed victory with a big forehand forcing Stosur into a backhand error.
Stat Attack – Halep
- The Romanian did not drop a set in winning her 5th career title after victories this season in Nurnberg, s-Hertogenbosch, Budapest and New Haven
- Halep began 2013 ranked 47th and this week sits at a career high of 14th
Stat Attack – Stosur
- The Australian No.1 now holds a 5-13 record in WTA singles finals
Gasquet fights past Kukushin for Moscow crown
Top seed Richard Gasquet was victorious at the Kremlin Cup with a hard fought 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin.
The 102nd ranked Kazah took the opening set from the World No.10 and after Gasquet levelled the contest, Kukushkin broke for a 4-3 lead in the decider.
US Open semi-finalist Gasquet displayed his mettle to reel off the final three games and claim victory after two hours and 24 minutes. Victory moves the 27 year-old past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga into 9th place in the race to London.
Stat Attack – Gasquet
- Having won Doha and Montpellier earlier in the season it is the first time since 2006 that the Frenchman has won three titles in a year
- Gasquet qualified for the Masters Cup in 2007 defeating Novak Djokovic but falling to Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer in the round robin group in Shanghai
Stat Attack – Kukushkin
- In four months Kukushkin has moved his ranking back up from 324th into the top 100 with two ATP Challenger titles, one Challenger final, a run to the 3rd round of the US Open and now his performance in Moscow
Wozniacki triumphs in Luxembourg
Former finalist Caroline Wozniacki was victorious at the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open after seeing off WTA final debutant Annika Beck 6-2, 6-2.
19 year-old German Beck twice led by an early break in the first set but saw Wozniacki pull away after breaking in an epic sixth game. Top seeded Wozniacki took the opener and largely dominated the second to seal her 21st career singles title and first of 2013.
Stat Attack – Wozniacki
- The Dane has now won at least one singles title for each of the last six years and is aiming to finish in the top 10 for a fifth straight year
- Five years ago Wozniacki lost a thrilling on a final set tie-break against Beijing Olympic champion Elena Dementieva
Stat Attack – Beck
- 2012 French Open junior champion Beck achieved her first final in just her 29th WTA main draw event
Dimitrov upsets Ferrer for maiden crown in Stockholm
Grigor Dimitrov won his first ATP World Tour title in style at the IF Stockholm Open with a come from behind defeat of World No.4 David Ferrer.
Top seed Ferrer appeared to be on course for his 21st career singles title when he took the opening set with relative ease. However 22 year-old Dimitrov was not overawed in his second career final and the Bulgarian broke and levelled the match.
Dimitrov fended off two break points at 2-3 in the decider and gained the crucial break when Ferrer double faulted in the seventh game. The underdog converted his first match point to complete a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Stat Attack – Dimitrov
- Dimitrov is the first player from Bulgaria to lift an ATP singles title in the Open era and this week reaches a career high ranking of 22nd
- The defeat of Ferrer was Dimitrov’s 4th career top 10 victory (from 26 matches) and follows his defeat of then World No.1 Novak Djokovic in Madrid earlier this year
Stat Attack – Ferrer
- It is the fifth season – and fourth consecutively, that Ferrer has won over 50 matches
Haas outlasts Haase for Vienna victory
Tommy Haas claimed a second Erste Bank Open title with a battling 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 defeat of Robin Haase in Vienna.
The 35 year-old German veteran came from a break down to take the opening set before unseeded Haase, who upset top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last four, repeated the feat to take the second and level the match.
Second seeded Haas hit back from a break down in the decider and broke Haase again in the final to seal his 15th ATP World Tour title after.
Stat Attack – Haas
- The German defeated Guillermo Canas to win Vienna in 2001 and was runner-up to Tim Henman in 2000
- After victory on the clay in Munich in May, it is the fourth season that Haas has won multiple titles following 2001, 2004 and 2006
Stat Attack – Haase
- The Dutchman, a current member of the ATP Player Council, reached his career high ranking of 33 in July last year