MOSCOW/STARNBERG, October 25, 2021

Home favourite Aslan Karatsev won his second ATP Tour title on Sunday when he defeated two-time champion Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-2, 6-4 to triumph at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Karatsev had never previously advanced past the second round in Russia’s capital city. But the 2021 breakthrough star was in control throughout the week, as he lifted his first tour-level trophy on home soil without losing a set.

The No. 2 seed of the ATP 250 event edged out Egor Gerasimov from Belarus, French veterans Gilles Simon and Adrian Mannarino as well as his compatriot and 2018 Kremlin Cup champion Karen Khachanov en route to the final.

Karatsev withstood seven aces and broke Cilic’s serve three times to secure victory in one hour and 16 minutes.

King Aslan 👑🇷🇺

Muscovite @AsKaratsev defeats Cilic 6-2 6-4 to claim the #KremlinCup title at home! pic.twitter.com/ibTASJFC69

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 24, 2021

“It is a dream come true,” Karatsev said in his on-court interview.

“It is a tournament where I have played in qualifying and now I am winning the tournament. Thank you for all of your support. It was a very nervous final game, I hit a double fault and then on break point there was that long rally, but I managed to win it in the end.”

Karatsev earned $683,380 in prize money as well as 250 ATP Ranking points.