MOSCOW: Sixth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia beat Katerina Siniakova in straight sets Saturday to set up a Kremlin Cup final against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania.

Pavlyuchenkova dominated the Czech qualifier from start to finish, winning 6-2, 6-2 to reach her 10th career final on the WTA tour.

The 18-year-old Siniakova was playing in her first WTA semifinal.

“My opponent actually didn’t play too badly,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “She wasn’t frightened today and started well. I think I did everything right today.” Earlier, Begu fought to a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3 win over fourth-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.

Begu enters her first final since beating Donna Vekic in Tashkent in 2012.

“No pressure at all, I’m just enjoying the tournament,” Begu said. “I had a really bad year last year, struggling with a shoulder injury, so now I’m just really happy to be back.”

In the crowd for Pavlyuchenkova’s match was Russian tennis chief and tournament chairman Shamil Tarpischev, despite the WTA saying Friday he would be banned for a year after making derogatory comments about Serena and Venus Williams.

Tarpischev was accompanied by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, whose arrival caused the start of the match to be delayed for security reasons.

Both semifinals in the men’s event are later Saturday, with Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis playing Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, before US Open champion Marin Cilic faces Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin.

Cilic qualifies

US Open champion Marin Cilic has booked his place in the elite eight-player ATP World Tour Finals in November.

The 26-year-old Croatian is sixth in the standings and now guaranteed a spot at the prestigious tournament from Nov. 9-16 courtesy of his grand slam victory at Flushing Meadows.

One place in the tour finals is reserved for a major winner who is outside of the top seven in the race standings.

The only scenario that could have led to Cilic missing out would have been if he dropped outside the top eight and Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka ended up eighth, which now cannot happen.

Joining him in London will be Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Wawrinka. Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic currently occupy the remaining three places.

Cilic will be the first Croatian to play at the season finale since Ivan Ljubicic qualified for the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

“This was one of my childhood dreams,” said Cilic. “The ATP World Tour Finals is for sure one of the most interesting tournaments of the year. It is watched all over the world and brings a big attendance to all the matches. It will be a big honor for me to participate there.” The world number eight, coached by 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanizevic, won his first grand slam at this year’s US Open.

He won ATP World Tour events in Zagreb and Delray Beach and finished runner-up in Rotterdam.

Cilic is also through to the Kremlin Cup semifinals in Moscow.

Tarpischev apologies

Russian tennis federation chief Shamil Tarpischev on Saturday said he was sorry for a jibe he made concerning Serena and Venus Williams on a Russian TV chat show, claiming that his words had been misinterpreted.

The vastly-experienced coach and administrator, after prompting from the chat show host, referred to the American siblings as the “Williams brothers.”

His remarks were translated into english and brought a furious reaction from the powerful Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which fined him $25,000 and banned him from tennis for a year.

“Serena and Venus (Williams) are without doubts outstanding athletes,” Tarpischev said in a statement released by Russia’s tennis federation.

“They both perform tennis of top class and embody strength and persistence.

“The situation that has spontaneously emerged during the late night chat show had a bad influence on the perception of tennis in general and splits our friendly and cohesive team.”

Tarpischev added that he had harbored no intention to insult the sisters.

“I’m sorry that the joke which was taken out of context and attracted so much attention,” he added.

“I think this story does not deserve the attention it is receiving. Everything that I said on TV was said without a malicious intent.”

Murray to meet Troicki

Britain’s Andy Murray reached the Vienna Open final and boosted his chances of securing a spot at the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki on Saturday.

The win lifted Murray to eighth in the Race to London standings with the top eight players qualifying for the prestigious season-ending tournament from Nov. 9-16.

The 27-year-old reached his 44th ATP final with a sixth consecutive win over Troicki, wrapped up in 83 minutes.

Murray will face either top seed David Ferrer, of Spain, or Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, who meet later on Saturday for a place in the final.

“I need to play well on some key points,” Murray was quoted as saying by the BBC.

“Whomever I play in the final, it won’t be easy. David will be tough for sure, he’s very motivated, like myself, for London.”