Dementieva beats Serena to land first Kremlin Cup at last

Russia's Elena Dementieva gave herself an early birthday present when she rallied after dropping the first set to beat Serena Williams 5-7 6-1 6-1 and win her maiden Kremlin Cup title yesterday.

Top seed Nikolay Davydenko prevailed over France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5 7-6 in the men's final later in the day to retain his Kremlin Cup crown and complete the Russian double at the $2.3 million indoor tournament.

World number four Davydenko, who called for a medical timeout late in the second set to treat his right wrist, needed four match points to finish off the fourth-seeded Frenchman for his third victory in Moscow in the last four years.

Dementieva, who turns 26 today, came out storming after losing the first set, breaking the fourth-seeded American three times in each of the next two sets to claim her first career win over the former world number one in emphatic fashion.

"It's just a great victory for me," the Russian said. "This has been one of my favourite tournaments and playing at home in front of my fans, finally I was able to do it. It is a very important win for my whole career."

Vienna Open men's final: Djokovic bt Wawrinka 6-4 6-0.

Stockholm Open men's final: Karlovic bt T. Johansson 6-3 3-6 6-1.

Bangkok Open women's final: Pennetta bt Yung-jan 6-1 6-3.