Tipsarevic Wins First All-Serbian Final In Moscow

© AFP/Getty ImagesViktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic contested the first all-Serbian final in ATP World Tour history.

World No. 14 Janko Tipsarevic lifted his second trophy of the season at the Kremlin Cup on Sunday, defeating reigning Moscow champion Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-2 in the first all-Serbian final on the ATP World Tour.

Following the trophy ceremony, Tipsarevic and Troicki attended a rare joint press conference. "It was really tough," Tipsarevic said. "We were both tight. You could cut the tension with a knife. It was like a nightmare to play against your friend."

"This was the first time we had an all-Serbian final, ATP or WTA, so it was a bit strange at the beginning for both of us," stated Troicki. "Janko deserved to win, he was the better player today. We both played pretty good but he was more aggressive."

With the win, Tipsarevic moves to 10th place in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Rankings in the battle to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. "Even if I say I don't want to think about London, I knew it was a big opportunity for me," Tipsarevic admitted. "Every single point counts for London now. It is going to be really hard but not impossible. If I don't qualify for London, then my next goal would be to finish in the Top 10."

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Tipsarevic broke to start the match, but Troicki levelled in the fourth game to even the first set at 2-2. After four straight holds, the second-seeded Troicki dropped serve in the ninth game and Tipsarevic subsequently served out the first set.

Troicki was immediately pressured to begin the second set, and saved three break points to hold for a 1-0 lead. But his countryman kept plugging away and finally converted a break of serve for a 3-2 lead on his seventh opportunity of the set. Tipsarevic secured an insurance break to move ahead 5-2, and served out the match to lock up the victory in one hour and 28 minutes.

After falling in his first four ATP World Tour finals, Tipsarevic has won titles in his last two appearances, having triumphed at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011 three weeks ago (d. Baghdatis). He evened his FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series with Troicki to a 1-1 record, and notched his 47th win of the year. "Kuala Lumpur was more emotional because it was my first ATP World Tour title, but here I was more nervous as I was playing Viktor," said Tipsarevic. "It was not a suprise that we played the final, as we were the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds here."

Troicki was bidding to repeat his performance last year in Moscow, when he claimed his first career title against Marcos Baghdatis. The World No. 16 dropped to a 1-4 mark in title matches. "I am glad I am back in good form after a difficult summer and Asian swing and hope I can continue like this until the end of the season," Troicki said.