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1.7 million USD will be up for grabs at the VTB Kremlin Tennis Cup 2017

This weekend, October 14, 2017, at the sports complex Olympic(Moscow) is already the twenty-eighth in a row. The tournament will begin on Saturday morning with qualifying matches in the women's and men's singles. The final meetings will take place a week later - on Saturday, October 21, the winners of the women's competition will be determined, and the next day, October 22, the men's.

This year's prize fund, which is provided by the bank VTB, became a little more than last year. Thus, men will play with each other for 823,600 USD (in 2016 – 792,645 USD), and women – 855,308 USD (758,788 USD). The winner of the men's singles will be able to take home 132,990 USD, and the women's singles – 147,500 USD. For comparison, the winners of the world's major tennis tournaments earn more - by Wimbledon 2017 they received 2.2 million GBR, for US Open 2017– 3.7 million USD each, per Australian Open 2017– 2.7 million USD each, and by Roland Garros 2017– 2.1 million EUR each.

At the moment, the names of 19 men and 20 women out of 28 who will take part in the tournament are known VTB Kremlin Cup tennis 2017, however the composition may still change. So, just today, due to an injury, the Englishwoman Johanna Konta (9th in the world ranking), who was the second racket of the tournament, decided to refuse to participate in the cup, and now the participation of the Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (8th in the world) is under threat for the same reason. By the way, it was Kuznetsova who won the tournament VTB Kremlin Cup tennis the last two times.

As a result, it turns out that the first racket of this year’s tournament will be the Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic, who occupies thirteenth place in the world ranking. Russia this year will be represented by Elena Vesnina (19), Anastasia Pavlyuchenko (21), Daria Kasatkina (29), Ekaterina Makarova (33) and Natalya Vikhlyantseva (69) and others. In addition, Maria Sharapova, who is currently competing at a tournament in China, may be at the tournament.

Among men, the main “star” will be last year’s winner of the tournament VTB Kremlin Cup tennis Spaniard Pablo Coreño Busta, who is now ranked 11th in the ranking of the strongest tennis players on the planet. Thus, the men's part of the competition will also take place without TOP-10 representatives. However, the organizers are trying to come to an agreement with the Czech Tomas Berdych, who was consistently in the top ten this decade, but this year, after a series of failures, dropped to twentieth place. As for the Russians, this year Andrei Rublev (35), Karen Khachanov (40), Daniil Medvedev (64) and Andrei Kuznetsov (97) and others will compete for victory. By the way, the last time Mikhail Youzhny managed to win a home tournament was back in 2009.

Visited VTB Kremlin Cup tennis and stars of the first magnitude. So, in 2002, at the dawn of his career, one of the best tennis players in the world in recent times, Swiss Roger Federer, took part in the tournament. Among the women there were, of course, more celebrities - firstly, all the strongest Russian tennis players, as well as Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Mary Pierce, Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Simona Halep. This is explained by the fact that the women's tournament VTB Kremlin Cup tennis has a slightly higher status than men's, which allows tennis players to earn additional points to their rating.

The cheapest tickets to VTB Kremlin Cup tennis 2017 will cost the visitor 150-975 rubles depending on the location of the seats. This is how much a pass to the tournament will cost if you purchase at least four tickets to the qualifying games. A single ticket for the same matches will cost from 200 to 1,300 rubles. Attending the final matches will cost the most - in the Family package (from 4 tickets), the pass will cost 575-7,500 rubles, and for a single ticket you will need to pay 700-10,000 rubles.

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The spectators at the Olimpiyskiy were tired. On Friday, at three o'clock, when the semi-final match between Russian Daria Kasatkina and Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu began, a small crowd had gathered in the stands. And those who came were tired and did not actively support the 20-year-old Russian woman.

The match itself was not very spectacular due to the fact that there was a clear advantage of the owner of the court. I didn't run. The Romanian was unable to chase every ball sent by Kasatkina, and naturally lost - 2:6, 3:6.

Need a base in Moscow or St. Petersburg

Dasha herself said approximately the same thing, but delicately, after her victory: “It was clear that Irina-Kamelia, to put it mildly, was not in the best shape. I took advantage of it."

In the second set, however, there were many breaks - both tennis players broke their opponents' serves rather than their own. “In principle, I did everything right, varied the serve - sometimes sliced, sometimes twisted, sometimes to the body... But something didn’t work out in the rally,” Dasha admitted. - Do I like that people are rooting for me? This doesn’t constrain me, on the contrary, it inspires me.”

Now, if she wins the capital tournament, Kasatkina will break into the top twenty. She will have the highest rating of her career. “It’s not really that important to me. “I only learned about this from journalists,” Kasatkina said. - I repeat: I don’t care. I’m glad that I reached the final at my home tournament and that I will have the opportunity to win.”

As in previous meetings with journalists, Kasatkina continued to reflect on the tennis base in Russia. Still, the Samaranch National Tennis Center in Moscow remains unfinished. “Many players, when they part with one coach and don’t find another, feel lost,” Kasatkina noted. “They just don’t know where to go next.” Therefore, it would be great if there was a base for men's and women's national teams, for junior teams - for example, in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Such a base where you could come, train, do fitness, where you could be provided with a trainer. Of course, there should be a sufficient number of courts there.”

Vikhlyantseva unsuccessfully reached for the phone

In the second women's semi-final, Russian fans were waiting for a new sensation from Natalya Vikhlyantseva, who had earlier eliminated Elena Vesnina and Frenchwoman Alize Cornet from the main draw.

Alas, on Friday the 20-year-old native of Volgograd lost to German Julia Gerges in three sets (2:6, 6:2, 5:7), so there will be no Russian final. “It’s hard,” Natalya sighed after the match. - For the second day in a row I fall asleep at two in the morning. In the morning I reached for the phone, wanted to take it out of the charger, and even at that moment I felt pain in my hand. And during the match, when I hit Yulia’s curve ball, the pain in my hand was sharp. After that, I tried to just hit the ball, but the pain in my hand remained. With the score 3:2 in the deciding set, I even wanted to withdraw from the match.”

But we need to remember the positive. For example, the fact that in one of the previous matches Natalya served at a speed of 206 kilometers per hour! For this she even received praise from Elena Vesnina. Now Vikhlyantseva will go home to Volgograd, and in mid-November to France, where she will, as she put it, work in the gym of the tennis academy.

My mother was with me in Moscow, but I am also often accompanied by my brother and other relatives: I feel comfortable with them, they help me, as they say, “not to become a star,” to return, if necessary, from heaven to earth,” Natalya noted in parting .

As for Julia Gerges, tennis experts have calculated: the 28-year-old German has lost her last six finals. When Gerges was reminded of this, she stated that she was ready to correct the statistics, but would prepare for the final with Kasatkina as for a regular game. “I played with Dasha for the first time two years ago, on clay in Bucharest. Then I won, and when shaking hands I said that she had a bright future,” Gerges recalled. “And so it turned out: Kasatkina is now in the top thirty and on the way to the top twenty in the world.”

It’s curious: Yulia Gerges said the same thing to Natalya Vikhlyantseva after defeating her, only not to her personally, but publicly in an interview on the Olimpiysky court.

Moscow

VTB Kremlin Cup

$790,208. Hard

Semi-finals. Gerges (Germany, 7)- Vikhlyantseva (Russia) 6:2, 2:6, 7:5; Kasatkina (Russia)- Begu (Ruinia) 6:2, 6:3

$823,600. Hard

Quarterfinals. Basic (Bosnia, qual.)- Medvedev (Russia) 3:6, 6:4, 6:1; Mannarino (France, 3)- Selah (Israel) 6:7(6), 6:1, 6:2; Dzumhur (Bosnia, 6)- Seppi (Italy) 4:6, 6:2, 6:4

The VTB Kremlin Cup ended with victories for Görges and Dzumhur, attendance records and the arrival of Maria Sharapova.

The main event of the tennis autumn was remembered by the audience primarily for the arrival of Maria Sharapova, who attended the Moscow tournament for the first time in 10 years, performances by the legendary drummer Chris Slade and hot tennis battles and much more, but first things first.

The Sharapova phenomenon

The last time Maria performed at the tournament was in 2007, when she lost to Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in the second round, so her arrival was so long-awaited for the Russian public that literally immediately after the official announcement, tickets for Sharapova’s match were completely sold out, media representatives hung up on their phones in the hope of exclusive interview. Maria herself was cold-blooded and focused only on fighting. The fairy tale, which started so well, did not have a happy ending - Maria spent less than two hours on the court, but clearly demonstrated how the arrival of stars of this caliber increases interest not only in the event, but in the sport as a whole. As evidenced by the full stands throughout the subsequent days of the tournament.

“The support was wonderful, the stadium was full. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was really eager to play in my home country and knew that the whole country had been rooting for me for the last two years. I wanted to perform well, but it didn’t work out, but I think I will still have the opportunity,” Sharapova commented at the post-match press conference.

Triumphants

The winner in the women's singles was the representative of Germany, Julia Görges. Thanks to her triumph in Moscow, the athlete interrupted the series of disappointing defeats that haunted her in the finals and won such an important victory for herself.

Daria Kasatkina became the finalist of the tournament, despite the defeat, she was satisfied with the result and separately noted the special support of the fans:

“The stadium was full. I think that this should be the case, if not from the first day, then at least from the quarterfinals. It's really great: you go out onto the court and feel the atmosphere. People are interested, they come to get sick,” commented Kasatkina.

After a hard fight, Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia and Herzegovina became the winner in the men's singles, he defeated Richardas Berankis from Lithuania, for whom it was the second ATP level final in his career 6:2, 1:6, 6:4 in 1 hour 39 minutes. It is noteworthy that Dzumhur won his first title a month earlier in St. Petersburg.

“I don’t know why I perform so well in Russia, maybe it’s the special air here. (Laughs.) I just like playing in Russia,” Damir Dzumhur shared his impressions immediately after the victory.

In the women's doubles, tennis players Andrea Hlavackova from the Czech Republic and Timea Babos from Hungary won, in the men's doubles - Belarusian Maxim Mirny and Austrian Philipp Oswald. For one of the most titled doubles players in the world, Maxim Mirny, this victory was the fiftieth at ATP tournaments.

“I consider this tournament to be my home tournament: unfortunately, I don’t have an ATP tournament at home in Minsk, so this is the closest and dearest tournament for me. I have a lot of family members and friends, so I always want to play my best. It doesn’t always work out, but when it does, it’s always nice,” the tournament press service quotes Mirny as saying.

Of the Russians, 21-year-old Daniil Medvedev showed an excellent result, who played in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row, and in the second round match knocked out the winner of the 2016 VTB Kremlin Cup, Top 10 player Pablo Carreño Busta. On her way, Natalya Vikhlyantseva beat her strongest rivals - Vesnina and Kornet, and lost to the reigning champion of the tournament in the semi-finals. Evgeniy Donskoy and Andrey Kuznetsov reached the stage 1/2 of the men's doubles.

Attendance records

According to preliminary estimates, more than 77,100 people visited the VTB Kremlin Cup this year, which is almost 10,000 more than last year.

Of these, more than 7,000 people took advantage of the special promotion of the organizers and VTB Bank, visiting the first days of the event for free using Muscovite social cards, student cards, VTB plastic cards, Pochta Bank and electronic invitations.

Ticket sales increased by 52% and, according to the Chairman of the Board of Directors Shamil Tarpishchev, the positive dynamics will continue in the future:

“Of course, the tournament was successful. Despite the absence of Russians in the men's final, the stands were almost full. This year the tournament broke the attendance record. What I liked most was that they started going to the game itself, and not just to “their own” ones, as was usual. Since last year, the situation has changed somewhat and people go to tennis,” Tarpishchev noted.

Special Events

The official press conference dedicated to the start of the VTB Kremlin Cup tournament was held in the very center of Moscow, in the new Zaryadye Park. Representatives of the media, directors of Moscow competitions and specially invited guests gathered on the territory of the Reserve Embassy. The event was the first in the park since its opening.

A pleasant surprise for tennis fans was the autograph session between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina at the end of the event. Everyone could receive a souvenir photo of the tennis players with an autograph and parting words.

For the first time, the tournament draw was held in an interactive format at the press center of the TASS news agency, and all those present could watch its results in real time.

Not only tennis, not only hard court!

For the fourth year in a row, the Moscow competitions were held under special stage lighting, which created a unique intimate atmosphere on the courts and arena. During the tournament, entertainment areas, quizzes and children's competitions were organized, and autograph sessions were held for tennis players: Anastasia Sevastova, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Coco Vandewey, Elena Vesnina, Alexander Bublik and, of course, Maria Sharapova at the stand of the title partner VTB.

The Moscow tournament will also be remembered by many for the enchanting show of ex-drummer of the group AD/DC Chris Slade, who performed in the final days of the tournament. Chris is a unique musician, who during his career managed to collaborate with Neil Peart just two weeks after he joined Rush, play with Tom Jones, Gary Numan, Olivia Newton-John (in the band Tomorrow). He performed with AC/DC at the historic Monsters In Rock festival in Moscow in 1991.

Social program

An important social component of the tournament was the charity event “Supporting Children and Families in Difficult Life Situations,” organized jointly with the Central Federal District Foundation. Thanks to this initiative, the tournament was attended by 238 children from orphanages and boarding schools. Little guests watched the matches with interest, took part in interactive zones, and took pictures with the stars.

The Kremlin Cup 2018 is the 29th edition of the most prestigious commercial tennis tournament in Russia. Top athletes from all over the world will take part in the competition. There will also be Russian racquet masters among them. In the last edition, alas, they did not achieve significant results. But a new Kremlin Cup is coming. Therefore, domestic tennis players have every chance to rehabilitate themselves in front of their fans!

Kremlin Cup Tennis Schedule 2018

The 29th edition of the championship will be held from October 13 to 21, 2018. The athletes will be hosted by the Moscow Olympic sports complex. Tennis matches will take place on four hard courts.

The tournament will be divided into several stages. The approximate calendar for the entire Kremlin Cup 2018 game grid looks like this:

October 13 – 15: qualifying round;
October 15 – 17: 1st round;
October 17 – 18: 2nd round;
October 19: quarter-finals;
October 20: semi-final;
October 21: final.

Competition program

Spectators will see tennis matches in four categories:

men's single;
women's singles;
men's doubles;
women's doubles

The Moscow championship does not include mixed doubles and competitions for juniors. Otherwise, the Kremlin Cup is no different from the Grand Slam tournaments and other commercial competitions.

Prize fund

The championship prize fund will exceed $1.6 million. Therefore, everything will be fine with athletes’ motivation!

The most significant jackpot will be contested by the participants in the 2018 Kremlin Cup final in the women's category. The finalist can count on $78,000, and the winner – 147 thousand!

The cash prizes for men are a little more modest. In total, they will divide between themselves no less than 823,000. At the same time, the winner will receive more than 132 thousand dollars!

Participants of the competition

Who will participate in tennis duels in the upcoming edition of the championship? It is difficult to answer this question. The composition of participants in each edition of the tournament is different. Therefore, it is problematic to outline an approximate circle of tennis players who will come to Moscow.

Among the women at the Kremlin Cup 2018, spectators can again see Maria Sharapova. The Russian woman is having a hard time getting back into shape after her disqualification. The star really needs support, especially if this support comes from his native stands. Last season, the Russian woman performed unsuccessfully at the Olimpiyskiy, losing in the first round. The German Julia Görges then celebrated her triumph in the women's singles category. In the final match, she upset Russian Daria Kasatkina.

But fans are unlikely to see star male singles players at the 2018 Kremlin Cup. First of all, tennis players hold championship in high esteem. Although history remembers the times when star representatives of the ATP did not hesitate to show their class on the Moscow courts. I especially remember Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The domestic superstar of world tennis has become the best at the Kremlin Cup for 4 years in a row!

But the times of the great Kalashnikov are over. However, fans of Russian tennis can see such rising stars as Andrei Rublev, Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Kuznetsov in action.

Afterword

The Kremlin Cup is not as prestigious a competition as Wimbledon or Roland Garros. However, stars of the first magnitude regularly come to Moscow. Which of them will surprise you with outstanding results at the Kremlin Cup in 2018, and will there be Russians among them?

Maria Sharapova left the Kremlin Cup tennis early, losing in the first round to Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, but she was not the only Russian to start the tournament, and fans continue to count on their own.

Young Daria performed very impressively, reaching the semi-finals of the competition. In the first round, the 20-year-old tennis player met with her compatriot, and if the first set was an equal fight and ended in a tiebreaker, then in the second game Kasatkina defeated her opponent with a score of 6:1.

In the second round, the Russian woman met with the representative of the Czech Republic Katerina Sinyakova and quite easily beat her opponent in two sets (6:2, 6:3).

Kasatkina played reliably, made almost half as many unforced errors and played much better at the reception than her opponent, winning 36 points.

In the quarterfinals, Kasatkina defeated Belarusian Alexandra, again without losing a single set.

Despite the confident score (6:4, 6:3), the match turned out to be difficult and was replete with a large number of errors in the performance of both tennis players.

The rivals did not strive to play as actively as possible, but preferred to act more carefully, which did not bring much success to both athletes.

In the end, the one who made the least mistakes celebrated victory, and it was the Russian woman. Sasnovich, by the way, won five games on Kasatkina’s serve, but this did not save her, since Daria was able to make as many as seven breaks - one more in each set.

The Russian explained the reasons for her not very confident game in a post-match interview.

“I think I started the match very well, and throughout the first set I showed a fairly high level of play.

Then, with the score 5:1, when I lost my serve, I felt that I was being “pressed” - and the score became 5:4 in my favor. Then my opponent served, but she made a double fault on the first ball, and I was released. Overall, the match was really intense, like every fight with Sasha,” gotennis.ru quotes Kasatkina.

Kasatkina’s not very confident performance in the quarterfinals does not yet allow her to be considered one of the absolute favorites of the tournament, however, if she shows the tennis with which she won in the first two matches, then the future rivals of the rising star of Russian tennis will have an extremely difficult time.

In the semi-finals, Kasatkina will meet with Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, who is in 56th place in the WTA rankings - one line higher.

The second remaining Russian woman in a difficult match beat the Frenchwoman Alize Cornet with a score of 4:6 7:5 6:3. The meeting lasted just over three hours. Vikhlyantseva lost the first set to her opponent, but was able to turn the tide of the match and won the next two games. In the semi-finals, the Russian will meet with the representative of Germany, Julia Georges.

The most high-profile event at the Kremlin Cup was the victory of Russian Daniil over the first racket of the tournament, Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who is ninth in the championship race and 11th in the ATP rankings. Thus, last year’s winner dropped out of the competition already in the second round.

The meeting, surprisingly, ended quickly - in just one hour and ten minutes with the score 6:3 6:3.

Medvedev made four breaks in the match, losing only one game on his serve.

Carreno Busta played extremely poorly - he made 33 unforced errors, and won only 10 rallies with his active actions. Medvedev, in addition to playing more reliably on the back line, served well, delivering eight aces, although he made four double faults.

Medvedev's opponent in the quarterfinal match will be the Bosnian