Andy Potts
Top tennis comes to Moscow next week as the Kremlin Cup marks its 20th anniversary - and bids farewell to one of its stars.
The tournament, at Olimpiisky from October 17-25, will be former world No. 1 Marat Safin's last competitive appearance in Moscow before he retires at the end of the season.
Safin, who became the first Russian player to win a Grand Slam when he took the US Open title in 2000, also won the Australian Open in 2005 and led his country to Davis Cup glory twice, in 2002 and 2006.
But, perhaps surprisingly, he's never won his home-town tournament, twice losing in the final to Nikolai Davydenko (2006) and Igor Kuznitsyn (2008).
The 29-year-old's planned retirement could be a relief for racquet manufacturers - a famously emotional player, he smashed 48 racquets in the 1999 season, and reckons he's destroyed more than 300 over the course of his career.
Davydenko, currently trying to secure qualification for the ATP World Tour Finals in London next month, is the highest-ranked player to confirm his place in the tournament and is likely to be the biggest threat when the draw is announced on Friday.
Among the women, few of the biggest names are due to play with Dinara Safina, Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova all declining to play, according to the player lists at www.kremlincup.ru
The quartet, along with many leading players, prefer warm weather training in Doha ahead of the high profile Tournament of Champions in Bali, starting on November 4.
However, Russian tennis has great depth, and the tournament is likely to be a further chance for emerging talent to shine.
One girl to watch is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, currently in a rich vein of form which has seen her twice defeat Venus Williams in recent weeks.
Meanwhile there was disappointment for Safina last week as her rein as world No. 1 came to an end.
She needed to match Serena Williams' performance at the China Open, but after suffering a second-round defeat to Shaui Zhang, the world number 226 - the lowest-ranked player ever to beat a current No. 1 - she lost her top ranking.
With her status as the world's top player questioned throughout her rein, and a her failure to win a Grand Slam event coming under intense scrutiny, slipping down the rankings may help her regain confidence with less publicity and expectation surrounding her performances.
The Beijing tournament was won by Kuznetsova, who beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the final.
