Bertens Defends St. Petersburg Title Over Rybakina

Kiki Bertens won her second straight St. Petersburg title beating Elena Rybakina 6-1, 6-3 Sunday in Russia.

“To defend your title, it’s always something special,” said Bertens. “You come with such great memories, and if it happens where you have a beautiful trophy again, I’m more than happy.

“This week was a really tough week,” Bertens added. “We lost Saturday night in the deciding doubles, 7-6 in the third set and 10-8 in the tiebreak. It was a really tough day. Sunday, I was flying here already, but I think I was still crying for the whole night because I felt so bad after that tough loss.”

The 20-year-old Rybakina was appearing in already her third final of the season. She made five finals since July, winning two of them.

The Dutch No. 1 now has 10 career titles. She was scheduled to face Kim Clijsters in her opener in Dubai but has withdrew from the event before the final.

Clijsters will meet Garbine Muguruza in her comeback Monday.