'Tipsarevic, Youzhny to play in Kremlin Cup'

Moscow - Janko Tipsarevic and Mikhail Youzhny are likely to feature in this year’s Kremlin Cup, a Russian tennis official said Tuesday, an early boost for a tournament that typically struggles to attract the world’s top men.

Tipsarevic, the world No.10, has played here six of the last seven years and beat fellow Serb Viktor Troicki to win the 2011 title.

Youzhny is currently Russia’s top-ranked player at 26 in the world whose record in Moscow stretches back to 1999, although the 30-year-old hasn’t appeared in Moscow since beating Tipsarevic in the 2009 final.

“It seems that Youzhny and Tipsarevic have agreed with our Kremlin Cup 2013 offer,” five-time Kremlin Cup champion and current vice-president of the Russian Tennis Federation Yevgeny Kafelnikov said on Twitter.

The prize fund for the men’s draw in October’s tournament, played on the indoor hard courts of the Olympiysky Sports Complex, is $746,750.