Kirilenko targeting doubles spot at Tour Finals

Bronze medalists Maria Kirilenko of Russia and Nadia Petrova of Russia pose with their medals during the medal ceremony for the Women’s Doubles Tennis on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games

Moscow - The Russian duo of Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova are focusing on their bid to reach the doubles tennis tournament at the WTA Tour Championships, Kirilenko said on Tuesday.

Kirilenko and Petrova occupy the fourth and final qualifying spot for Istanbul next month, based on rankings for 2012.

“Of course, it’s sitting in our minds,” Kirilenko said.

The Russian suggested she wanted to match Petrova’s success in winning the tour finals doubles event with Meghan Shaughnessy in 2004.

“For example, me, I never played that tournament and Nadia, she told me she already played and one year she won it.”

The pair are competing at the Kremlin Cup here, as are their closest challengers, fifth-ranked Americans Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.

“Everything will depend on who’s going to play better here, us or another American team.”

Kirilenko and Petrova came back from a set down to beat Czech twins Karolina and Kateryna Pliskova 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 Monday, while the Americans are yet to play.

In the singles, Kirilenko is the seventh seed and starts her campaign against fellow Russian Elena Vesnina, her former doubles partner.

“It’s going to be a difficult for the first round and she’s always playing well here,” Kirilenko said.