Estonian Anett Kontaveit staged a brilliant comeback to beat home hope Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Kremlin Cup final on Sunday, boosting her hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals.
The ninth seed trailed by a set and a double-break, but rallied to win 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
It was Kontaveit’s third WTA title of the season and leaves her locked in a battle with Tunisian Ons Jabeur to reach the season-ending event in Guadalajara.
If the 25-year-old wins the title in Cluj next week and Jabeur fails to reach the semi-finals in Courmayeur, Kontaveit would snatch the last Finals place.
“To go 4-0 down (in the second set), she was really hitting the balls down the line, she was playing amazing tennis,” she said.
“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 has now won four WTA titles in her career.