Rising Russian star Kasatkina knocks out Wozniacki, progresses to French Open quarterfinal
Russia’s Daria Kasatkina knocked out second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark from the French Open to reach a career-first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
The 21-year-old Russian sealed a confident two-set victory over Wozniacki on Monday to celebrate her third consecutive win over the experienced Danish star this season.
The game had carried over from Sunday, when bad light had forced play to be suspended with Kasatkina one set up and the pair tied at 3-3 in the second.
On Sunday, Kasatkina had taken an early 3-1 lead in the opening set but then lost four consecutive games, allowing her opponent to reverse the course of the match. However, when ahead with a 5-3 advantage the 2018 Australian Open winner made several unforced errors to help Kasatkina to reduce the gap.
The Russian player took the upper hand in a nerve-racking first set tie-break – 7-6 – to hold a one-set lead in the fourth round at Roland-Garros.
When the score in the second set was 3-3 play was suspended due to bad light, meaning that the pair were forced to continue on Monday.
The Russian No. 1 needed just three games to secure victory and progress to the next round, winning 7-6 6-3.
Kasatkina, whose previous best performance at a Grand Slam was reaching the fourth round at last year's US Open, will meet the reigning champion from that tournament, America’s Sloane Stephens, in the quarterfinal in Paris on Thursday.
