Kremlin Cup 2021: Aslan Karatsev, Anett Kontaveit triumph in contrasting styles

Moscow: Home hope Aslan Karatsev cruised past Marin Cilic to continue his excellent season by winning the Kremlin Cup final in Moscow on Sunday, while Estonian Anett Kontaveit took the women's title.Second seed Karatsev powered to a 6-2, 6-4 victory.It was the Russian's second ATP title of a breakthrough year which also saw him reach the Australian Open semi-finals as a qualifier."It is a dream come true," Karatsev said. "It is a tournament where I have played in qualifying at and now I am winning the tournament. Thank you for all of your support."The 28-year-old's win also keeps alive his slim hopes of making the ATP Finals in Turin.Cilic's run to the final continued his recent return to form after winning his first title since 2018 in Stuttgart in June.But the Croatian, the 2014 US Open champion, was no match for Karatsev who won the trophy without dropping a set.Earlier on Sunday, Kontaveit staged a brilliant comeback to beat home hope Ekaterina Alexandrova in the women's final, 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.