Wozniacki Claims Moscow Title Over Stosur

Caroline Wozniacki fought off Sam Stosur in three sets to earn her second title of 2012 at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

By Erik Gudris

Caroline Wozniacki wins Kremlin Cup title over Sam Stosur in Moscow

(October 21, 2012) --Though she came into the event with few expectations for the week, Caroline Wozniacki will leave Moscow with her second title of 2012 after defeating Australia's Sam Stosur in the Kremlin Cup finals.

Wozniacki, who was playing Stosur for the first time in two years, dominated the opening set by breaking the Australian twice along with controlling play from the baseline. But after both women traded early breaks of serve in the second set, it was Stosur who picked up her game as she hit 13 winners including an ace to serve out the set 6-4.

Stosur broke Wozniacki at love to kick off the final set and soon jumped out to a 3-1 lead. But after missing an opening to break Wozniacki again, it was a frustrated Stosur who saw her level dip as Wozniacki won 10 out of the next 11 points to pull even at 3-all.

Forehand errors proved to be Stosur's undoing late in the match as she hit two in row while holding 15-40 on Wozniacki's serve at 4-all. Trying to force a tiebreak serving at 5-6, another forehand miss from Stosur set up a match point for Wozniacki. Stosur saved it with an ace, but she couldn't do the same when down a second match point as a final shanked forehand sealed a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory for Wozniacki.

Wozniacki's win secured her 20th career title and her second of 2012 with her first coming in Seoul last month. For Stosur, the loss was her 12th in a career final.

"I think both of us played very good tennis out there," Wozniacki said afterwards. "Sam has been playing well and I knew it wasn't going to be easy, and it could have gone either way at the end, but I think at the right times I played the right shots. There were a lot of key moments, but they just went my way."

Stosur will now head to Istanbul as the first alternate in the WTA Championships. Wozniacki is currently the top seed at the upcoming Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria.

(Photo Credit: Corleve)