Dementieva, Davydenko win titles at Kremlin Cup

A pair of local favorites claimed titles at the dual-gender Kremlin Cup on Sunday.

In the $1.34 million women's draw, unseeded Elena Dementieva finally broke through here with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 4 Serena Williams .

The Russian sweep was completed later in the day when top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko won the $1 million men's event with a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 (11-9) triumph over No. 4 Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.

"It was very special playing in front of this crowd," Dementieva said. "They were behind me the whole week and especially today in the final. Serena is such a great champion and I felt like this was really my chance to play well against her, in front of my home crowd, too. It was very, very important for me to do that today."

Dementieva was a runner-up in 2001 and 2004 and the odds of her claiming her first championship at this hardcourt event seemed slim.

In four prior meetings with the American, Dementieva was 0-4 and had not won a set. It appeared it would be more of the same when the world No. 7 took the first set Sunday, but Dementieva responded and dominated the next two sets en route to the eighth title of her career and second this season.

"It was a very difficult match to play and it was tough for me to find my game, but I knew I had nothing to lose," Dementieva said. "We had a tough first set and then, right at the beginning of the second set, I broke her and that's when I felt I was starting to push her.

"I didn't want to give up. I was fighting for every point. I think in the third set she started getting a little tired maybe."

Williams, who has not won a title since April and has been limited by injuries this season, was denied what would have been the 29th singles title of her career.

"I made a lot of errors - every ball I hit I felt was going out and so it was really frustrating," Williams said. "I'm not going to make excuses though, it wasn't the court or anything else, it was me. I thought she played unbelievably. I think she should play like that more often."

The $182,000 in prize money was an early birthday present of sorts for Dementieva, who will turn 26 years old on Monday.

"This is going to be my best birthday ever, I mean what else can happen to me? I'm just so excited and happy about this title," Dementieva said. "I've been waiting for this day to come for such a long time - it is truly a dream come true."

Davydenko successfully defended his 2006 title and won for the third time here, his other victory coming in 2004. While he's ranked fourth in the world, Davydenko was appearing in his first final of 2007.

"It feels great to win Moscow for the third time," Davydenko said. "This year it was my first final so I was very nervous. Maybe I wanted too much to win Moscow and it affected my game a little bit."

The 26-year-old said he nearly gave up the quest for his 11th title and the $142,000 in first prize money.

"In the second set I felt a pain in my elbow and I was very close to deciding to retire from the match," he said. "Surely, I would have retired in the beginning of the third set I if had lost the second."