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MOSCOW, Russia – Svetlana Kuznetsova kept up her chances of booking a spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by beating Alizé Cornet, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.

Watch live action from Moscow & Luxembourg this week at WTA Live Powered By TennisTV!

The Russian entered this tournament knowing that she had to win the title to book a place for Singapore. In the early exchanges, Kuznetsova made all the running, missing the chance to break in the first game before pushing Cornet even further in her next service game, but the Frenchwoman saved five break points in an epic that lasted nigh on 13 minutes.

With Kuznetsova rattling through her own games on serve, she was able exert more and more pressure on Cornet and finally got the break that she richly deserved after to go 3-2 ahead.

Having worked so hard to get ahead, Kuznetsova threw up an error-strewn game and handed the break to Cornet with a shot into the tramlines. Both players suddenly became more comfortable receiving and after the No.1 seed had restored her advantage, a sloppy backhand into the net put the players back on level terms. A fifth straight break gave Kuznetsova a 5-4 lead, and she finally regained her composure to hold when serving for the set.

.@SvetlanaK27 breaks thrice to win the first and already once again to open the second @kremlincup_eng https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC pic.twitter.com/gSuniOhsJB

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) October 19, 2016

The World No.9 carried her momentum into the second set, breaking Cornet’s serve for the fourth time in a row with forehand volley.

Kuznetsova failed to hang onto this advantage, however, she closed out the match at the second time of asking to take a place in the quarterfinals. There she will face Timea Babos, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Kristina Mladenovic.

“I think I was playing more against myself. I couldn’t find an exit from the situation,” Kuznetsova said in her post-match press conference. “I was winning and created situations, and when I had an advantage. Instead of keeping playing I began indulging my game. It was psychological: me against me.

“Not sure I played against Babos. I hope to play better than today. Well, the way I played today certainly won’t let me relax!”

Kuznetsova needs to win the title this week in Moscow in order to capture the final spot in the WTA Finals field of eight. Anything short of a title run for the Russian will result in Johanna Konta grabbing the final spot.

MOSCOW, Russia – Svetlana Kuznetsova kept up her chances of qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by beating Elina Svitolina, 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-4, in Friday’s Kremlin Cup semifinals.

Watch live action from Moscow & Luxembourg this week at WTA Live Powered By TennisTV!

The Russian must win the tournament to overtake WTA Most Improved Player of the Year Johanna Konta and secure a spot in Singapore.

After Svitolina started the match with a routine hold, the Ukrainian squandered three chances to move a break ahead and the Russian never looked back in the first set.

In the second set, however, the World No.15 provided much sterner opposition, breaking to love in the fifth game. Kuznetsova broke back immediately but once again fell behind a break in the very next game, despite saving two break points.

Svitolina tightened up when serving for the set, falling 0-40 behind in flash. She saved all three but succumbed to the pressure on the fourth.

However, she was not left to rue her profligacy and she claimed a highly attritional tie-break convincingly after producing a series of excellent groundstrokes, with Kuznetsova making some untimely unforced errors.

Kuznetsova appeared to be tiring but soon stopped Svitolina’s march. After a lengthy break before the decider, the top seed returned with renewed vigour, sending down a series of vicious shots to break in the opening game.

The 31-year-old saved two break points in the following game to consolidate her advantage but from there she was well on top and Svitolina was unable to get back in the match as Kuznetsova got her WTA-leading 20th three-set match win of 2016.

Kuznetsova has won 20 3-set matches in 2016. She won 17 3-set matches in 2014 and 2015 COMBINED https://t.co/kdPEISJspn

— Kevin Fischer (@Kfish_WTA) October 21, 2016

“I knew what I had to do but in the second set I stopped playing the ‘right’ tennis. I realized what was going on, I understood it was wrong but couldn’t do anything about it. And I had to play three sets,” Kuznetsova said in her post-match press conference.

Kuznetsova will face Daria Gavrilova in the final after she overcame Julia Goerges, 7-5, 6-1. Gavrilova, who was born in Moscow, received plenty of support from the Russian crowd, helping her through a rollercoaster first set and into the first final of her career.

“When I arrived in Hong Kong a few weeks ago, I didn’t expect to be finishing the season so well,” Gavrilova told wtatennis.com. “Playing here in Moscow I’m getting a lot of support – I have a lot of friends and family in the crowd – and even though I’m very tired this helped me come through the difficult moments in the match today.

“In the final I know Sveta will get a lot of support, but this is normal. It has been a great week and I am playing with no pressure so I will go out and play my game and see what happens.”