Eighth seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy defeated Belorussian Olga Govortsova 6-3 6-0 in the final of the $1,000,000 Kremlin Cup to win her second and biggest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.

The 29-year-old Schiavone battled through a two and a half hour long first-round encounter with qualifier Nuria Llagostera Vives, but since then she didn’t drop a set and even lost only 12 games in her last three matches combined.

The world No.24 Schiavone had lost 10 out of her 11 previous finals, including one in Moscow in 2005; Govortsova's record in career finals is 0-2 now. (photo via Kremlin Cup)

Italian Francesca Schiavone and Belorussian Olga Govortsova will play in the final of the $1,000,000 Kremlin Cup, the tournament which had quickly fallen short of most of the top players.

Eighth-seeded Schiavone, the highest seed to reach the quarterfinals, beat Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-4 6-0 to advance to the final.

In the other semifinal, unseeded Govortsova defeated Alisa Kleybanova 6-2 6-1, the Russian who had upset second seed Jelena Jankovic in the quarters. Kleybanova committed 39 unforced errors, nearly twice as many as Govortsova.

World No.24 Schiavone has lost nine out of 10 career finals, including the one in Moscow in 2005, while 67th-ranked Govortsova is yet to win her maiden WTA title, playing her second WTA final.

Immediately after qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Jelena Jankovic crashed out of the Kremlin Cup, losing to Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Fourth seed Daniela Hantuchova was dumped out by unseeded Shahar Peer in the other tournament of the week, played in Luxembourg.

Second seed Jankovic, who failed to defend her Kremlin Cup title, said she wasn’t saving herself for Doha which starts October 27, rather, she simply couldn’t cope with Kleybanova at the time.

Russian Kleybanova will take on Olga Govortsova in the semifinals.

At the BGL Luxembourg Open, Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova lost her quarterfinal match against Shahar Peer of Israel in straight sets, 6-2 7-6(4).  Peer’s next opponent will be sixth seed Sabine Lisicki. In the quarters, the German defeated Patty Schnyder, who had taken out the 2009 US Open champion and five-time titlist in Luxembourg Kim Clijsters in the previous round. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Vera Zvonareva lost to Tsvetana Pironkova 6-0 6-2 in the second round of the Kremlin Cup, which automatically qualified Jelana Jankovic for the Sony Ericsson Championships.

Jankovic is now five points ahead of Zvonareva in the race to the Sony Ericsson Championships and will be among the elite eight players of the season competing in the singles competition in Doha. The Serb has joined Dinara Safina, Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka.

Russian Zvonareva, top seed at the Kremlin Cup, lost to Bulgarian qualifier Pironkova who secured only her fourth win on tour this season and her first since April. Still, Zvonareva is not disappointed about the outcome: "Maybe I'm even happy. Finally I will have time to restore my health and start the new season in full strength."

Defending Kremlin Cup champion Jankovic, who has now qualified for the season-ending Championships for the third time in her career, followed up her guaranteed qualification by beating Lucie Safarova 7-6(5) 6-3 in the second round in Moscow.

Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska will be alternates for the Sony Ericsson Championships. They both had their chance to earn that last Doha berth at the Kremlin Cup, but Jankovic prevailed. (source: BBC, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

World No.10 Agnieszka Radwanska lost her chance to take the final qualifying spot for the prestigious Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, losing to 61st-ranked Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the Kremlin Cup.

Radwanska’s defeat means that Jelena Jankovic and Vera Zvonareva will fight it out for the eighth spot at the season-ending Championships. Still, Radwanska will be an alternate for Doha, along with the loser of the qualifying battle between Jankovic and Zvonareva.

World No.12 Flavia Pennetta had a shot at being an alternate at the Sony Ericsson Championships, but she retired from her first-round match at the Kremlin Cup and her chance has thus been removed. The Italian won the opening set against Agnes Szavay 6-4, but after losing the first three games of the following set she retired with a left knee injury. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)