MOSCOW (AP)—Defending champion Vicktor Troicki and top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic advanced to the Kremlin Cup final with straight-sets victories on Saturday to set up the first ever all-Serbian final on the ATP Tour.
Tipsarevic beat three-time Kremlin Cup winner Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 7-5, while Troicki defeated French qualifier Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-4 in the first men’s semifinal.
“This year Serbian tennis has been amazing and having an all-Serbian final just proves that Serbia as a nation has great tennis players,” Tipsarevic said. “We don’t just have (top-ranked Novak) Djokovic, we also have other good players.”
In the women’s semifinals, Dominika Cibulkova beat Elena Vesnina 6-0, 6-2 to continue her chase for a first WTA title, while Kaia Kanepi will be going for her second after rallying to eliminate Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3.
Tipsarevic, who won his first career title in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in September, saved three break points in the sixth game of the second set and three more in the 10th before he broke the Russian in the next game and aced the match out.
“He (Tipsarevic) was better on the base line. I tried to attack but made many mistakes,” said Davydenko, who is still suffering from a left hip injury. “But in fact, I was surprised—to play against the world No. 14 with an injury and have a chance to take a set. I guess I could have lost quicker. I still cannot serve at full strength.”
Troicki, seeded second, broke in the ninth game in each set and sealed the victory against Chardy with an ace.
“I was lucky enough that I stayed focused on key moments of the match,” Troicki said. “I broke him two times when it was 40-all. He was a top-30 player before and obviously is coming back now. I had to play my best tennis to beat him today.”
“It’s not easy to play against a friend because he knows my game and I know his game,” Tipsarevic said of Sunday’s match. “But we are both professionals and for one, two or three hours on the court tomorrow we are going to be rivals. And may the best man win.”
The eighth-seeded Cibulkova reaches her second straight final after losing to Petra Kvitova in Linz, Austria, on Sunday.
The 20th-ranked Slovak, winless in three WTA final appearances, dominated her 64th-ranked Russian opponent, scoring seven break points and taking it on the first match point when Vesnina smashed the ball into the net.
“I started very well and was playing too fast for her and that’s why she (Vesnina) was making mistakes,” Cibulkova said.
Vesnina had advanced to her first semifinal at the home event after Marion Bartoli of France withdrew with a viral illness from their quarterfinal match on Friday.
“A day off hasn’t helped me,” Vesnina said. “A couple of close games in the first set but I played with no confidence.”
After trading sets, the 43rd-ranked Kanepi jumped out to a 5-2 lead before Safarova saved two match points on her way to breaking the Estonian.
Safarova had to fend off two more match points on her ensuing serve but eventually netted a forehand to hand Kanepi the match.
“It’s a bit unexpected that I’m in the final but I believed in that,” Kanepi said. “When I went to Tokyo two weeks ago, I though why not can I win this tournament, and I made it to quarterfinals. And when I came here, I said the same.”
Kanepi beat top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in the third round in Tokyo, but lost to her in Beijing the next week.