Gasquet wins Kremlin Cup, nears World Tour Finals invitation

MOSCOW, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Richard Gasquet burnished his chances of making the ATP World Tour Finals with a three-set win Sunday in the title match of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Gasquet, the No. 1-seed in the tournament, edged qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 Sunday, closing the title with two breaks in the final three games of the match.

Gasquet battled through breaks in each set. Kukushkin had the only break of the first set but Gasquet came back with two breaks in the second to even the match. Kukushkin took the advantage in the third set but Gasquet rallied in a long game for a break that left the player 4-4 in the third.

Gasquet held serve and then claimed his fourth break of the day to claim the Kremlin Cup title.

The win moves Gasquet past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the eighth invitation to the eight-player Tour Finals with two weeks of tournaments on the ATP schedule before the finals.

It also evened Gasquet's record in title matches at 10-10. It marked his third championship in 2013, with the others coming in the first two months of the year. Kukushkin fell to 1-1 in finals. His other appearance was a win in 2010 in St. Petersburg.

Gasquet collected $134,800, which gives him career winnings of $9.5 million. Kukushkin's second-place check of $71,000 sent his career total past the $1.5 million mark.