Pavlyuchenkova topples Kerber for fourth Monterrey crown

MEXICO CITY: Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova shocked world No. 1 Angelique Kerber 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 on Sunday to win the WTA title at Monterrey, Mexico, for a fourth time.

“I’m really overwhelmed and don’t think I realized that I just won my fourth Monterrey trophy,” Pavlyuchenkova, the second said. “Some people just have four trophies in total, and I have four here! It’s very special and it’s a special place in my heart. It’s where I won my first title — and since won three more!“

Pavlyuchenkova seized the advantage when she gained the only break of the tightly contested opening set on her first set point.

“Playing the final against the number one player in the world is already very special, because everyone wants to compete against the number one,” she said. “You don’t get so many chances to do it, so it was one opportunity for me today. Beating her feels amazing.”

Kerber, who regained the world No. 1 ranking in March with American Serena Williams sidelined by injury, was playing in her first final of 2017.

She dug in to win a tense third game of the second set, breaking for 4-2 and going on to level the match.

Pavlyuchenkova admitted she was feeling the strain in the second set, but she found an extra reserve of energy to tap as she raced to a 5-0 led in the third and served out for her ninth career title in just under two hours.

It was the second time Pavlyuchenkova has beaten Kerber in a Monterrey final. She downed the German in 2013 when she added a third crown to those she won in 2010 and 2011. NEW DELHI: A simmering feud between tennis stalwarts Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi has boiled over into an ugly public spat following India’s latest Davis Cup triumph in Bangalore.

No sooner had the hosts sealed a 4-1 win Sunday over Uzbekistan in the second round of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie than Bhupathi lashed out at his former doubles partner, who was dropped from the squad last week.

“We gave him the option (of being a part of the squad and playing as a reserve) and he readily took it,” Bhupathi, the nonplaying Davis Cup captain, said after the win helped India qualify for the World Group playoff.

“So after that, to sulk about not being in the (playing) four was a bit unprofessional,” Bhupathi said of his friend-turned-foe.

Adding fuel to the fire, Bhupathi put up a screen shot of his WhatsApp conversation with Paes on social media in a free-for-all slugfest aimed at countering Paes’ charge of being dropped in humiliating fashion at the last minute.

The conversation suggested that Paes had agreed to join the squad despite being told there was no guarantee he would be in the final four. Paes, 43, hit back, accusing Bhupathi of using his position to deliberately keep him out of the squad.

“I was never categorically told that I would not be playing, but it was apparent that the decision was made before I arrived in Bangalore. This is what I found unnecessary and disrespectful,” Paes said in a statement.