Russian ace Kasatkina fires past Raducanu

Daria Kasatkina, Russia's top-ranked female tennis player, is through to the round of 16 at the Ostrava Open in the Czech Republic after the 25-year-old defeated last year's US Open winner Emma Raducanu in straight sets.

Kasatkina will now progress to take on compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova in the next round, ahead of a potential quarter-final clash with third seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.

Fifth seed Kasatkina prevailed 7-5 6-4 against Raducanu, in a contest spanning one hour and 31 minutes on Tuesday. 

“This tournament is so tough, when you see the list of the players playing here,” Kasatkina said afterwards.

“Whoever you've got is a very tough opponent, so you have to be really focused and be ready from the first point, the first match, the first game. I'm happy with my performance today and really excited for the next one.”

An intriguing all-Russian showdown between Kasatkina and world number 21 Alexandrova now awaits, after the latter overcame Belarusian two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka in their opening match in Ostrava. 

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Elsewhere on Tuesday, Russian men's star Daniil Medvedev triumphed in his round of 32 match with Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the Astana Open in Kazakhstan.

The former world number one received little trouble from Ramos-Vinolas in what was his first indoor hard-court win of the season, winning all five of the final games to head back to the locker room with a 6-3, 6-1 win. 

Sterner challenges await but the Russian has yet to learn the identity of his opponent for his next match on Thursday.

Andrey Rublev, meanwhile, also secured passage to the next round in Astana with a straight-sets win of his own against Serbia's Laslo Dere in Monday's action. 

Rublev takes on Chinese number one Zhang Zhizhen on Wednesday in his round of 16 match.