MOSCOW, Russia - No.3 seed Belinda Bencic secured her second title of the season with a three-set victory over former champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final of the VTB Kremlin Cup.
Needing to reach the final to qualify for the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen, the No.3 seed went one better with a victory on championship Sunday, and sealed her second title of the season with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over the 2014 winner, and now two-time runner-up.
From a set down, the World No.10 won 12 of the last 14 games to ultimately seal the victory in dominant fashion, and score her fourth victory in five matches against Pavlyuchenkova.
The title is the fourth of the 22-year-old Swiss' career, all of which have come at Premier level or better, and she will now join Naomi Osaka as one of two players to arrive at the season-ending tournament on a winning streak.
Read more: Bencic rounds out field at Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen
"It feels unbelievable right now. I still can't imagine it," Bencic said in her on-court interview after the victory.
"I had no pressure going into this match. We were so happy yesterday, celebrating [Shenzhen] and this is the cherry on top."
Not initially entered in the Premier event, the Swiss was the recipient of a wildcard, and beat three former Top 20 players to win the title in Pavlyuchenkova, Kristina Mladenovic and Kirsten Flipkens, and a second-round comeback against Polona Hercog.
"I was actually prepared to play qualifiers. It was so good to be handed a wildcard, because if I didn’t, I would have played three matches in qualies," Bencic said.
"It saved up my powers, because I didn’t play three matches to get into the main draw and I skipped the first round of the main draw getting a bye. For me, it was an amazing chance. I was dreaming of such a result, but I didn’t expect it."
Pavlyuchenkova started strongly in a solid opener, as she struck nearly half (11) of her overall winners for the match (24) in the first nine games.
The Russian landed 74 percent of her first serves in the opener, saving both break points she faced, and broke twice to win a set against the Swiss for the third time in five matches.
From then on, however, Pavlyuchenkova's consistency faded, and she ultimately racked up 48 unforced errors by the end of the one hour, 44-minute clash.
She was broken in the first game of the second set, and lost nine consecutive games from 1-2 down with Bencic serving.
The title is the fourth of the 22-year-old Swiss' career, all of which have come at Premier level or better, and she will now join Naomi Osaka as one of two players to arrive at the season-ending tournament on a winning streak.
"I'm happy. This will take a special place in my heart, because here I qualified for the WTA Finals," Bencic said.
"Yesterday I had more emotions. Today, I was more relaxed, especially after the first set.
"I’ll go to Shenzhen happy and free from any thoughts, because I’m glad to be in the Top 8."
