Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki claimed her 20th career title by beating top seed Samantha Stosur 6-2 4-6 7-5 in a thrilling Kremlin Cup tennis final.
The third-seeded Dane trailed Stosur 1-3 in the third set but recovered her poise to draw level, then broke the Australian in the 12th game to clinch her second title of the season after winning the Korea Open last month.
"I just kept fighting, kept my head cool. I was like, well, you have nothing lose here right now, it's the last match, so just got for it," Wozniacki, who saved three break points in the ninth game of the final set, says.
"I'm happy I'm playing so well again. You know, two titles so far this year, and I have one more tournament to go. Definitely, I know I'm on the right track but I know what I can practice on for 2013," she adds.
Stosur, who fought back from a set down to beat another former world number one Ana Ivanovic in the semi-final, looked on course to end her 13-month title drought after she broke Wozniacki to love at the start of the final set.
But the Australian, who was looking for her first title since winning last year's U.S. Open, lost her serve in the sixth game and was broken decisively in the 12th.
She saved the first match point with an ace but missed a running forehand on the second to concede defeat after two hours and 13 minutes.
"This was a tough court for me to play exactly the way that I wanted to and I made through to the final so I'm very pleased with that and I fought through some pretty tough matches before this one as well. So certainly lots of positives to take away," Stosur says.
"It would've been nice to win the last tournament of the year but runner-up's not too bad either and I'm sure there's a lot I can build on for next year."
The WTA Tour heads to Istanbul for the Tour Championships featuring the top eight players in the world.
Wozniacki is assured a place in the field but Stosur will travel Turkey as a reserve in the event one of those who have qualified are unable to play.
Reuters