‘Make it three’ Anett Kontaveit wins a thrilling final at the 2021 Kremlin Cup, wins her 3rd title in 3 months

World No. 20 and the 9th seed at the WTA Kremlin Cup 2021, Anett Kontaveit emerges as the new champion after staging a superb comeback in the finals against local girl Ekaterina Alexandrova. The Estonian won the match 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in 2 hours and 22 minutes in a thrilling final with both the players going toe-to-toe until Anett finally came out victorious.

Anett had reached the finals without dropping a single set throughout this week in Moscow but lost in the very first set but showed great mental fortitude in the next two sets to clinch the second WTA-500 title of her career. Of the 223 points that were played in the match, Ekaterina won 109 while Anett had 114 with only 5 points separating the two players who played out a great finale.

Alexandrova dominated on the service game especially during the first set but Anett made quick notes of the places to exploit the Russian and that eventually helped her turn the match in her favour. Kontaveit was 0-4 down in the second set but won 6 in a row to force a third and eventually won it breaking the hearts of Russian fans who were cheering for the local girl.

“The match was so tough – I’m so relieved, and so, so happy,” said Kontaveit in her first interaction after clinching the title.

Anett Kontaveit making a late charge for the WTA Finals

Currently 15th in the race for the WTA Finals in Mexico in November, Anett Kontaveit now stands a good chance to enter the Year-end Championships for the 2nd time in her career having made her debut in 2018 when she lost in the round-robin stage. Anett will now travel to the Transylvania Open 2021 in Romania and her fate for the WTA Finals lies there.

The Estonian now needs to reach the finals in Romania and hope that Ons Jabeur, who is the top-seed at the Courmayeur Ladies Open 2021, should not reach the semi-finals. If Jabeur makes it to the final-4, Anett will need to win the title in Romania to make a late run for the WTA Finals which now has an extra spot after World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty announced she won’t play in 2021 again.

Also Read: Transylvania Open 2021: Women’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction