Daria Kasatkina reached the semi-finals of the Adelaide International 2 on Thursday. The fifth seed beat Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals, 6-3, 7-6(3) after an hour and 32 minutes of play.
Both players didn’t win much second-serve points, winning around 39%. But Kasatkina fared better when it came to winning first-serve points – she won 70% to the Czech’s 56%. Kasatkina saved five of the eight break points she faced while converting five of the 10 break points she had on Kvitova’s serve.
Adelaide International: Caroline Garcia toppled
After her win, Kasatkina said, “It was a hurricane inside after losing the [6-5] game, after being just one point away from the win. But I knew with Petra it doesn’t matter the score, you have to always be ready for everything, because she’s fighting until the end and she’s very aggressive. You get a few winners [by Kvitova] and she’s back. So, I’m really happy with my performance, the way I was able to keep my focus with the tiebreak, of course.”
Next up for Kasatkina is Paula Badosa. The ninth seed from Spain needed two hours and 34 minutes to get past 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, 7-6(5), 7-5. The match had three breaks of serve, two of which came on the Brazilian’s serve.
Meanwhile, in the top half of the draw, eighth seed Belinda Bencic knocked out the fourth-seeded Caroline Garcia in their quarter-final meeting. The Swiss won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 after an hour and 53 minutes of play.
Bencic failed to save both break points she faced while also going on to break Garcia’s serve four times across the match.
For a place in the Adelaide International 2 final, Bencic will now play Veronika Kudermetova. The sixth seed came from down a set while staving of five match points to claim a 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 win over 10th seed Danielle Collins after two hours and 47 minutes of play.
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