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Tennis

Kunitsyn humbles compatriot Safin to lift Kremlin Cup

12/10/2008

Russian outsider Igor Kunitsyn overcame compatriot Marat Safin to win the Kremlin Cup today and claim his first ATP tour title.

Safin was the overwhelming favourite heading into the final as he had a 3-0 head-to-head record against Kunitsyn, but despite thumping 21 aces, Safin still ended up losing a marathon match 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3.

The 27-year-old Kunitsyn, who is ranked 31 places below Safin in the world rankings at 95, was playing in his first final, but he matched his more experienced opponent and took the first set on the tie-break.

Kunitsyn looked to be heading for a straight sets win when he broke midway through the second set, but Safin hit back and broke back immediately. The second set also went to a tie-break and after two hours and five minutes, the players were level as Safin won the tie-break.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Safin would have been favourite heading into the final set, but it was Kunitsyn who managed to break the big-serving Russian to take a 4-2 lead and then kept his nerve to serve out and win the tournament.

"Everybody knows Marat is better than me but today I'm the winner," said Kunitsyn. "It's terrific to win my first title in front of my home fans and I hope I would be able to defend it here next year."