Watch: Tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova cuts hair during match

Svetlana Kuznetsova cuts her hair during a change of ends. Photo / YouTube

Tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova took a pair of scissors to the back of her head and cut off a portion of her braid during her WTA Finals victory over Agnieszka Radwanska.

The impromptu haircut seemed to work as Kuznetsova bounced back from 2-1 down in the third set to claim a 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 victory.

The hair Kuznetsova sheared off remained on her chair for the remainder of the match.

A physically spent Kuznetsova claimed a draining win over defending champion Radwanska in nearly three hours.

Kuznetsova, who saved a match point on Radwanska's serve near the end, eventually prevailed on a third match point to break Radwanska's serve.

"At some point I was just ready to let it go, just lay on the court and let them take me out of here," Kuznetsova told the cheering crowd. "I was just trying to stay in there and hang in there."

Kuznetsova was the last player to earn a berth into the eight-player, year-end championships when she defended her Moscow title on Saturday.

The Russian arrived in Singapore on Sunday afternoon after a grueling four weeks of chasing a spot in the WTA Finals for the first time since 2009.

Kuznetsova played three tournaments in China ahead of taking a wildcard into the Moscow tournament.