Kunitsyn: King of Kremlin

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Igor Kunitsyn beat Marat Safin 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 to claim the Kremlin Cup on Sunday.

The Vladivostok native stunned his fellow comrade and compatriot in a highly contested match lasting 11 minutes short of three hours.

Safin, who was seeded seventh in Moscow, produced 21 aces but all in vain as Kunitsyn denied his countryman a first title since winning the Australian Open in 2005.

Kunitsyn, ranked 95 in the world, took the first set on the tie-break before Safin did likewise in the second, but it was the 27-year-old who clinched the title after claiming the decisive break.

And the surprise result was not lost on Kunitsyn, who revealed he had prepared a speech to congratulate Safin on the win.

"I was hoping to win a couple of games and that's it," Kunitsyn said.

"I still don't know how I was able to outplay Marat, but I guess it happens. I still don't understand how I won."

"Everybody knows Marat (Safin) is better than me but today I'm the winner.

"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."

Tight

Both Safin, appearing in his first final since losing to Nikolay Davydenko in the 2006 Kremlin Cup, and Kunitsyn, who was playing his first final, held their serves throughout the first set.

And when the first set went to a tie break, Kunitsyn was more accurate to gain a one-set lead six minutes after the hour mark.

Kunitsyn broke midway through the second set but Safin broke back immediately to level, forcing another tiebreak, which he won to level the match.

In the deciding set, Kunitsyn broke in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead, which he kept to clinch his first ATP title and pocketed the $171,000 prize money.