Moscow, Oct 21 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova booked the last doubles place at next week’s WTA Championships after reaching the final of the Kremlin Cup here.
The Russian pair, ranked fourth in the world, completed a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears of the United States in a rollercoaster semifinal Saturday.
The win sends them to Istanbul for the season-ending event, where they will compete with Italians Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani, Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka and US duo of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond.
Kirilenko will try to match Petrova’s success in winning the tour finals doubles event with Meghan Shaughnessy in 2004.
The opponents traded two breaks in the first set before Kirilenko and Petrova broke the Americans’ serve to take it 7-5.
In the second set, it was the US duo who were 3-1 up when the Russians stormed back to finish off their opponents.
In the final, Kirilenko and Petrova, 2009 champions, will face their top-seeded compatriots Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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