MOSCOW, Russia - Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova claimed the Kremlin Cup doubles title in Moscow as they defeated Nicole Melichar and Anna Smith 6-2, 3-6, 10-3 in the final.
“We had a great week here, we played well and hopefully we can continue the same way in Singapore,” Babos said, reflecting on the tournament.
“It was fun to be here and I enjoyed playing on this court. Hopefully, we’ll be back next year, too.”
The top seeds made a rapid start to the match, securing the opening four games with ease before their opponents could get on the board. Although the Hungarian-Czech duo was denied on their opening set point during the seventh game, Hlavackova was able to serve out comfortably after the change of ends.
?? Тимея Бабош и ?? Андреа Главачкова - победители турнира #ВТБКубокКремля в парном разряде @TimeaBabos @AndreaHlavackov pic.twitter.com/w0GNbWrPiz
— ВТБ Кубок Кремля (@tennisrussia) October 20, 2017
Having made a tentative start to the match, the American-British combination of Melichar and Smith hit back superbly. They broke in the second game of the second set when Babos hit wide, and although they were immediately pegged back, they dominated the set before deservedly claiming it 6-3.
In the champions' tiebreak, the class of the higher-ranked pair told. Having established an early mini-break, they retained a stranglehold on the shootout and extended their advantage to claim a 10-3 success and with it the title.