THE VTB Kremlin Cup and Tenerife Ladies Open delivered spectacular viewing, as the two tournaments concluded over the weekend. In Moscow, Estonian Anett Kontaveit produced a come-from-behind win for the ages to secure her third title of the season. Whilst in Spain, a battle between two future stars of the game saw American Ann Li clinch her first maiden WTA singles title.

It took just two hours and 22 minutes for number nine seed Kontaveit to pull out the win and secure the title at Moscow 4-6 6-4 7-5. Although it wasn’t always cruise sailing in her fifth final of the year. The Estonian faced an early hurdle during the second set as she was down 4-0 in the second set.

But the tide had begun to turn for Kontaveit. She regained composure to win the decider with a break of serve when Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova served for the match at 5-4 up. A 77 per cent first serve percentage wasn ot enough for the world number 37 to overcome the dominant force of Kontaveit. In the end, it was a sixth double fault from Alexandra and a short forehand sent over the baseline that was the Russian’s downfall. Kontaveit’s win at the Kremlin Cup adds to her list of previous single title wins at the Cleveland Ladies Open and the Ostrava Open – this marks the Estonian’s 21st win out of her last 23 matches.

“I was just trying to stay in it as long as I could, and I never really gave up. I was just trying to fight for every point as much as I could. If I would have lost 6-4, 6-2 or whatever, I knew I tried everything,” Kontaveit said post-match.

Meanwhile, the inaugural Tenerife Ladies Open tournament was capped off by 21-year-old Li’s win. A breakout star, whose appearance made for her second career final, was on fire defeating Columbia’s Maria Camila Osorio Serrano with a straight-set victory 6-1 6-4 in one hour and 10 minutes.

It was a classy display by the American young gun who took control right from the opening set. Osorio Serrano was quick to get points on the board but was outdone by Li, who had eight winners to six unforced errors in the opener. This contrasted with Osorio Serrano’s five winners to 18 unforced errors.

Although Osorio Sereano’s showed determination to stay in the game, Li charged on and cruised through the second set to cap off an impressive game and earn her first singles title. The American won 67.4 per cent of first serve points and saved three out of five break points for Osorio Serrano to claim the victory.

Whilst both players have been relatively under the radar so far in their careers, both have achieved an enormous leap in terms of their rankings. Li saw a momentous rise in 2021 going on from number 112 to 48. So too did Osorio Serrano who currently sits at number 53 from her previous ranking of 190 in 2020. Both head into their next tournament with multiple WTA finals to their names.

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VTB KREMLIN CUP FINAL RESULT:

[9] Anett Kontaveit (EST) defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) 4-6 6-4 7-5

TENERIFE LADIES OPEN FINAL RESULT:

Ann Li (USA) defeated Marie Camila Osorio Serrano (COL) 6-1 6-4

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