MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won on Sunday the 2018 WTA tournament in Washington, said after clinching the Citi Open title that she had never quit believing in her victory although it was hard.

Kuznetsova played against Croatia’s Donna Vekic In the final encounter, which lasted for 2 hours 33 minutes. The 33-year-old Russian player edged Croatia’s No. 7 seed with the final score of 4-6; 7-6 (9-7); 6-2.

"Tennis is always mental, if you lose or if you win, you always gotta stay focused," Kuznetsova was quoted as saying by Women Tennis Association (WTA) official website.

"In the second set, each of us holding serve, I was some match points down, I just managed to hang in there," the two-time Grand Slam champion told journalists. "I knew I was close, I could turn it around, but of course it was really tight in the second set."

"Then the third set, I felt [Vekic] was really down on herself and she was tired; I felt better and I found my game," the Russian tennis player added.

Kuznetsova is ranked 128th in the WTA ratings list, while Vekic is ranked 44th. This year’s win at the tournament in Washington added up to her previous victory here in 2014.

In all, Kuznetsova is the winner of 18 WTA tennis tournaments and is the two-time Grand Slam champion, namely of the 2004 US Open and the 2009 French Open.