Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova wins first title since 2016

Washington: Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova won the Washington Citi Open WTA tennis tournament, beating Croatia’s Donna Vekic to clinch her first title since 2016.

The St. Petersburg tennis player came back from the first set to win 4-6, 7-6 (7) and 6-2 after 2 hours and 32 minutes of play against Vekic on Sunday, who had four match points in the second set, reports Efe.

Kuznetsova, who ranks 128th in the WTA ranking, had not contested a final since last year when she reached Indian Wells, although the last two titles of the 18 she has now won were back in 2016 - in Sydney and Moscow.

For her part, Vekic, No. 44 in the world ranking, who had once beaten Kuznetsova (2014 in Miami), has not been able to add a third title to her list of wins, which already includes victories in Kuala Lumpur (2014) and Nottingham (2017).

The Citi Open, which ended in Washington on Sunday, was endowed with $250,000 in prize money. IANS