It was Anastasia Pavyuchenkova’s fourth appearance at the Kremlin Cup in five years and her fourth defeat in the first round. The highest-ranked teenager and world No.21 lost to Nicole Vaidisova in 2006, in 2007 to fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina, in 2009 to Tsvetana Pironkova and this year to Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(5) 2-6 6-0.

"I have nobody to blame for the defeat except myself," said the fourth-seeded Pavlyuchenkova, who won just seven points against Cibulkova in the deciding set at her home tournament.

"I played well in the first set and won the second but lost concentration completely in the third. The defeat is my fault only."

Pavyuchenkova and Cibulkova are now tied in head-to-head record at one all. Pavlyuchenkova defeated Cibulkova in the first round of Tokyo last month, 7-5 7-5. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Elena Vesnina 5-7 7-5 6-4 in the all-Russian final of the Istanbul Cup even though her opponent initially had a 7-5 4-0 lead and a 3-1 lead in the third set. The third-seeded Pavlyuchenkova lost her serve seven times, but broke her opponent eight times to win the match.

Despite losing the final on her 24th birthday, Vesnina can be satisfied with the fact that her seven-match losing streak dating back to April is over.

World No.60 Vesnina was playing her third WTA final without success, while world No.29 Pavlyuchenkova added the Istanbul Cup title to her first one won at the Monterrey Open earlier this year. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claimed her maiden Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title by beating Slovakian second seed Daniela Hantuchova in the final of the Monterrey Open in Mexico.

The 18-year-old Pavlyuchenkova was forced to play both her semifinal and her title match in the same day, because of a rain delay. However, that didn’t stop the third seed from winning her first Tour final 1-6 6-1 6-0, defeating Hantuchova for the second time this season, after Dubai.

Prior to winning the Monterrey Open title, Pavlyuchenkova’s Indian Wells semifinal last year was her best result, where she upset Top 10 players Jelena Jankovic and Agnieszka Radwanska. By the way, Jankovic was top seed at the Monterrey Open and lost in the opening round.

Pavlyuchenkova has now risen from No.28 to No.25 in the rankings. (photo via Yahoo)