MOSCOW (AP) - Daria Kasatkina won the Kremlin Cup on Saturday as Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur narrowly failed to become the first WTA winner from her country.
Jabeur was a set and a break up at 4-1 in the second before she seemed to tire in her eighth match in as many days, allowing Kasatkina to claim a 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory with vocal support from the home crowd.
The exhausted Jabeur served the last game with tears in her eyes.
''When I was a little girl 10 years ago, I was coming to this tournament and dreaming of being champion one day,'' the 21-year-old Russian said. ''Thank you to everyone who believed in me.''
Sixth-seeded Kasatkina ended a run of three losses in finals, including last year's Kremlin Cup, and now has a career 2-3 record. Her previous win was in Charleston in April 2017.
Russian competitors have won the women's Kremlin Cup tournament four times in the last five years, with Germany's Julia Goerges beating Kasatkina in last year's final.
Jabeur, the junior French Open champion in 2011, was the first Tunisian to reach a women's tour final and the first African finalist since South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers in 2014.
''I enjoyed a lot playing here this week,'' Jabeur said. ''Hopefully I can do more next year.''
Qualifiers have played four WTA finals this year and lost them all.
Jabeur's run to the final included surprise wins over Ekaterina Makarova, former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, Anett Kontaveit and Anastasija Sevastova.
Kasatkina came back from the brink of defeat in the second round when she broke Alize Cornet's serve to stay in the match.