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Viktor Troicki of Serbia hits a return to Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus during the final...
Unseeded Serbian Viktor Troicki upset fourth-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 3-6 6-4 6-3 in the Kremlin Cup final to clinch his maiden title on Sunday.Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat her Russian doubles partner Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-4 in the women's final for her second crown of the year.
Troicki regained his composure after losing the first set and prevailed after nearly two hours for his second win over Baghdatis in as many matches.
It was a great week for the 24-year-old Serbian, who also reached the doubles final with compatriot Janko Tipsarevic. They lost to Russians Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov.
"It feels really great to win my first title, there are no words to describe what is going through my mind," said world number 43 Troicki. "I would say it's the biggest day of my career. I had been waiting a long time for this. It's special it happened in Moscow as my father is Russian."
Baghdatis was angered by a line call late in the second set and argued in vain with the chair umpire.
"It was a really bad call and it changed the match completely," the Cypriot told reporters. "I had control of the match for the first two sets and then this thing happened. It was a bad bad mistake. The guy (linesman) was just sleeping."
DOUBLES PARTNERS
In the women's event, second seed Azarenka broke Kirilenko three times in the opening set. It was the first set conceded all week by the sixth-seeded Muscovite who had dropped only nine games in her previous four matches here.
Kirilenko, cheered on by a sparse crowd at the spacious Olympiisky indoor arena, returned the favour by breaking the more powerful Belarussian twice at the start of the second to take a 4-0 lead. But the world number 10 battled back to reel off six straight games and clinch her fifth career title.
"This is a really big victory for me," said the 21-year-old, who will take home more than $157,000 for her efforts in Moscow.
"Winning a tournament gives you great confidence, but it was especially important to do it here ahead of (the season-ending WTA championships in) Doha."
Azarenka, who also triumphed in Stanford in July, had already secured her place in the Doha tournament, which starts on Tuesday, when American Serena Williams pulled out with a foot injury.
Azarenka and Kirilenko also teamed up in doubles, reaching the semi-finals.
"It's not easy to play against your doubles partner," Azarenka said.
"After winning the first set, I became very passive at the start of the second, enabling Maria to take control. But then I got mad with myself and started playing much better."
Despite the defeat, 24th-ranked Kirilenko will return to the world's top 20 when the new WTA rankings are published on Monday. "It was a good week for me, I just lost to a better player today," said the runner-up, who pocketed $85,000.
The annual ATP and WTA tournament was hit by withdrawals of several high-profile players, especially among the women.
Home favourites Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova as well as Italy's 2009 champion Francesca Schiavone all pulled out in the run-up to the event.
(Editing by John Mehaffey, To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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